The history of Indian culture has its epicentre in the north of the country. It is here, in the Ganges plain and neighbouring areas, that the great spiritual movements that gave life to the complex Hindu universe and alternative beliefs of Buddhism and Jainism were developed. It was in northern India that the first sultanates and the great Moslem empire of the Moguls arose and here that the Sikh congregation was created. History has left its mark everywhere in Indian art and this tangible evidence of a cultural past is the most immediate and stimulating way for a people to feel a sense of communal identity. A comparison, therefore, of a Hindu temple to a Moslem mosque dramatically reveals the enormous difference that exists between the Hindu and Islamic worlds although this distinction tends to be softened in the architecture of their great palaces. The aim of this guide is to offer the widest possible perspective on northern India’s various artistic phenomena through the use of text,
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Marilia Albanese
Marilia Albanese graduated with honours in Sanskrit and Indology at the department of Classical Literature at the Catholic University in Milan in June 1976 and, during the same period, studied a diploma in Hindi and Indian Culture. She is a teacher of Indian Culture at the Civic School of Oriental Cultures and Languages in Milan and Director of the Lombardy section of the Is.I.A.O. Since the end of the 1970’s she has been in charge of teaching Indian culture at a number of training schools for yoga teachers, a subject on which she has published several books. She has made many study trips to India, sometimes at the invitation of the Indian government, and has participated in various work projects, the last of which was a documentary series for Swiss television on the condition of women in India. Her studies of Indian civilization and its diffusion have also taken her to Sri Lanka and Indochina. As a freelance journalist, she is heavily involved in conferences and writes for several specialized weekly publications. She is the author of articles, essays and books and, for White Star Publications, has contributed to Splendours of the lost civilizations (1998), The great treasures: the goldsmith’s art from ancient Egypt to the 20th century (1998), The world’s greatest royal palaces (1999) and Northern India, guide to the archaeological sites (1999).
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