Glimpses of Hindu Cults and Culture is an embodiment of thoughts and ideas of the people of traditional India. Cultural vibration encircling the nature and characteristic features of the varied and various cults have been portrayed in the writings included in this volume. The title of each paper incorporated in this volume is self-evident about the contents of discussion. The study has been made as thorough and exhaustive as possible from the religious and cultural perspective. While analysing the subjects the author has endeavoured to be guided by the spirit of a truth-seeker, neither defending the theories and practices of the schools, nor passing any personal comment on them in respect of their merit. There are four sections consisting of twenty three essays in all and they have an underlying semblance leading to an understanding pertaining to various aspects of Hindu cults and culture of the subcontinent. The aim has been to steer clear of controlversial issues and to offer the readers the essence of the specific cults vis- a-vis the culture in general. In the presentation the author has delineated a sketch of religious and cultural conceptions as they appear from history, anthropology, ethics, theology and religious philosophy. These glimpses may be considered as an initiation to the various topics; for more detailed and indepth knowledge of any particular religion, recourse may be had to work with a broader and larger perspective.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Pranabananda Jash
Professor Pranabananda Jash (b. 1943) received his under-graduate and post-graduate degrees in Ancient Indian History and culture, from Visva-Bharati, Santiniketana (India). Author of a number of research papers on various aspects of Indian and South-East Asian History and Culture, he received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy for this thesis entitled Saivism from the early Pauranic and Epigraphical Sources in 1971, and later in 1984, earned the highest academic degree of the University, Doctor of Literature for his outstanding research work on the History and Evolution of Vaisnavism in Eastern India (1982). Some of his other publications are – History of Saivism (1974); Some Aspects of Jainism in Eastern India (1989); History of the Parivrajakas: Sankaracarya (1991). More over, he has edited several volumes, noteworthy among them are – Society and Religion in Ancient India (Sudhakar Chattopadhyaya Commemoration Volume, 1984); The Emperor and the Subordinate Rulers (1982); The Mother Goddess Worship (1987); Indology and Science: A Hermeneutical Coalition (1989); A Peep into Nineteenth Century Poetry (1989). National Integration: Vision of a Poet (1995); National Integration: Problems in Perspective (1995). Professor Jash has completed a couple of research projects sponsored by the UGC and the University of Visva Bharati. He has occasions to deliver lectures at a number of Indian and foreign universities and/or academic institutions. He has been teaching in the Department of Ancient Indian History, culture and Archaeology, Visva Bharati, since 1971.
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