The Archaeology of Bhakti I: Mathura and Maturai, Back and Forth

The outcome of a workshop cum conference, the volume examines the elusive, pan-Indian phenomenon of Bhakti taking into account different realms of representation such as texts and images including inscriptions that help to distinguish royal demonstrations of Bhakti from local manifestations. Referring to textual and non-textual sources, the essays by scholars explore the chronology of Bhakti across India. They view the complexities of the concept and practices of Bhakti in India. They look into the initial period of Bhakti thought, the link of religion with coinage and political ideology in the fourth and fifth centuries, medieval Tamil interpretations of Bhakti dharma, and yoga and viraha-bhakti as found in the Bhakti works, Buddhacharita and Krishnacharita. In an interesting attempt, archaeology is used to identify how literary conventions and concepts have been formed and incorporated into a given composition.