Manohar Publishers and Distributors: 09/10/12

10 September, 2012

Time in India: Concepts and Practices

By- Angelika Malinar (ed.)

Thinking about notions of time in India still evokes images of circles and wheels symbolizing the fading away of collective and individual histories into the repetitious, cyclical movement of cosmic death and rebirth. However, time is perceived and reckoned in India in many different ways mirrored in a wide spectrum of philosophical and theological interpretations, methods of calculation, mythological narratives and ritual performances.

The richness of concepts and practices shows the concern for different dimensions of the experience of time in Indian cultures. The interplay between time as quality and quantity persists in many aspects of social life in India and has not been replaced by the advent of moden standardisations. Thus, ritual calendars and the concern for auspicious or inauspicious moments co-exist with other methods of time reckoning. Such as the digital clock or dynastic eras.

The essays collected in this volume highlight this multiplicity by studying both notions and practices of time in relation to the different contexts in which they are enacted. Scholars from different disciplines address these topics with regard to history, religion, methods of time-reckoning, festivals, life-cycle rituals kinship and modern historiograpy. The essays deal with both, pan-Indian notions and traditions located in Orissa. While there are some distinct features that relate to Orissa in particular, the regional and local traditions often draw on conceptural frameworks used in other parts of the subcontinent too.

Angelika Malinar is Lecturer in Hinduism at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Her research interest are Sanskrit Epics and Puranas. Hindu monasticism, Yoga and Samkhya.

ISBN 81-7304-713-8 2007 330p. Rs.825/ pounds 65

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Art, Myths and Visual Culture of South Asia

By- Piotr Balcerowicz and Jerzy Malinowski (Eds.)

The study of South Asian Art requires not only expert knowledge of an art historian, but also sound philological proficiency and cultural competence of an Indologist. This calls for a close cooperation of specialists in both fields. The present volume of interdisciplinary character is just this: a solid exemplification of this vital principle.

The volume presents a collection of stimulating and inspiring papers linked by a common theme which incorporates various aspects of art, religion, myths, parables, symbols, literature and visual culture of the region of South Asia. The researchers’ interests go, in certain aspects, far beyond the geographical boundaries of South Asia and reach out to South-East Asia and even to Europe and Far East, revealing close cultural linkages and influences. The collection offers an entirely new material which explores a range of important motives and themes concerned with the art and visual culture of the region of South Asia, and partially with South-East Asia.

The authors examine a wide range of aspects of South Asian art, including sculpture, painting and decorative art, related to religious practice, temple consecration rituals, mythology and cult, eroticism, politics and power as well as the history and spread of artistic and mythological motives from South Asia to other parts of the world.

Piotr Balcerowicz, Professor of South Asian studies at the University of Warsaw, specializes in Indian philosophies, religions (including Jainism) and culture as well as in intercultural relations, conflict management and contemporary history of Asia (South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East).

Jerzy Malinowski is President of the Polish Institute of World Art Studies, Professor of history of art, head of the Departments of History of Modern and Oriental Art at the Nicolaus Copernicus University (Torun).

ISBN 978-81-7304-951-4 2011 320p. Rs.995/ pounds 70