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not been replaced by the advent of moden standardisations.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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