Spring 2006

ANT 324L • History of Hindu Religious Traditions

Course Description

This course examines the principal themes of traditional Hinduism, the dominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. It gives special attention to the historical development of the tradition and its relation to social and cultural life in India. To a large extent, the course will use primary sources for the study of Hindu religion. These include written texts which have been significant in the tradition, but they also comprise rituals that have been central to religious life; patterns of social action that embody Hindu values; and images and architecture that display the form and powers of the world. 

Texts

Anantha Murthy, U. R.,  Samskara. tr. by A. K. Ramanujan.  Dimmitt, C. and J. A. B. van Buitenen, Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskrit Puranas. Miller, Barbara Stoler, tr.,  The Bhagavad-Gita. Nandy, Ashis, The Intimate Enemy. Narayan, R. K., tr.,  The Mahabharata

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