The term hinduism as a religious label refers to the indigenous religious philosophy of the peoples living in modern day india and the rest of the indian subcontinent. Hinduism stands for the faith and the way of life of most people who live in india. An alternative history by wendy doniger of the university of chicago is really not a history at all. The real reason wendy donigers book on hindus was banned. Hinduism is defined and described in a variety of ways, as the following items indicate. While most major religions derive from new ideas taught by a charismatic leader, hinduism is simply the religion of the people of india, which has gradually developed over four thousand years. An alternative history is a book by american indologist, wendy doniger. Alternative historiography for hinduism the journal of. Om also spelled aum is a hindu sacred sound that is considered the greatest of all mantras. An alternative history, by the usbased academic wendy doniger, as.
Seventythreeyearold doniger is an american jewish indologist who has been a professor at the university of chicago since 1978. An alternative history the image of the man in the moon who is also a rabbit in the moon, or the duck who is also a rabbit, will serve as a metaphor for the double visions of the hindus that this book will strive to present. Examines a rich array of hindu conceptspolytheism, death, gender, art, contemporary puritanism, nonviolence, and many more. An alternative history is a book by american indologist, wendy doniger which the author describes as an alternative to the narrative of hindu history that they tell. The real reason wendy donigers book on hindus was banned in.
Hindu relations with islam and christianity are in some ways quite different from the ties and tensions that bind together religions of indian origin. P enguin books india has agreed to recall and pulp all copies in india of the hindus. The comparative study between hinduism and buddhism. Hinduism does not lend itself easily to a strictly chronological. The hindus alternative history krishna fondling breasts. Theres a personal story that i should tell about my relationship with this group of hindus here at the start, in the interest of full disclosure. It is unknown where hinduism was started and by whom. Click download or read online button to get hinduism for dummies book now. T his publication, on hinduism, has also attracted unjustified criticism from hindutvavadis. Ive just finished wendy donigers in famous the hindus. One story is about fusing the head of a brahmin woman onto the body of a dalit woman. Wendy doniger, a professor of history of religion at university of chicago, is a prizewinning author of book, the hindus. Ive just finished wendy donigers infamous the hindus. There is hue and cry by the selfappointed intelligentsia, free media and secularists on the decision of penguin books deciding to withdraw a book the hindus an alternative history by wendy doniger an american author.
It is a synthesis of many spiritual traditions of the region and does not have a clearly defined set of beliefs in the same way that other religions do. Its history overlaps or coincides with the development of religion in indian subcontinent since the iron age, with some of its traditions tracing back to prehistoric religions such as those of the bronze age indus valley civilization. An alternative history penguin, 2009 has outraged hindus around the world for allegedly insulting and offending hindus and indians. Wendys children and the struggle for the hindu past pdf, asian studies.
An alternative history after three, maybe four months. The tradition of debate can serve as an important alternative to the philosoph. There is clearly a need for an authentic, nonacademic introduction to hinduism that can be presented with confidence on such occasions. If the indus valley civilization 3rd2nd millennium bce was the earliest source of hindu traditions, then hinduism is the oldest living religion on earth. An alternative history description dont miss this equivalent of a brilliant graduate course froma feisty and exhilarating teacher. The ancient indians were not interested in history as such, which is simply the records of kings and merchants written by the victors. Hinduism, and the various systems of hindu thought. Dont miss this equivalent of a brilliant graduate course froma feisty and exhilarating teacher.
An engrossing and definitive narrative account of history and myth that offers a new way of understanding one of the worlds oldest major religions, the hindus elucidates the relationship between recorded history and imaginary worlds. History of hinduism denotes a wide variety of related religious traditions native to the indian subcontinent. Hindus live with a legacy of domination by muslim and christian rulers that stretches back many centuriesin northern india, to the delhi sultanate established at the beginning of the th century. History of hinduism download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. The key principles, beliefs and concepts of hinduism. Hinduism flows from the misty past some 6000 to 7000 years ago. Penguin books india agreed this week to withdraw from sale and pulp all copies of the hindus. The beliefs of the hindus is very different then that of christians. It has thus been called the oldest religion in the. The flow of hinduism can be divided roughly into major periods of change and development. Basic hinduism hinduism is the third largest religion in the world, following christianity and islam. The third edition includes chapters on the origins of hinduism as well as its history of relations with buddhism, christianity, and islam. The author is reported to be a great researcher and her books have been acclaimed by some indian scholars the hindus an alternative history, krishna fondling breast. Doniger provides several variants of the theme of transposed heads.
This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Click download or read online button to get history of hinduism book now. The hindus an alternative history by wendy doniger penguin books november 2010 isbn10. In the 20th century, hinduism began to gain popularity in the west. This book is also alternative to the narrative of hindu history that they tell. An alternative history, which was published in 2009. Its a kind of narrative quilt made of scraps of religion sewn in next to scraps of social history, a quilt like the storytelling cloths that indian narrators use as mnemonic devices to help. Scholars and intellectuals across the board are critical and worried about penguins. Pdf the hindus an alternative history wendy doniger. Wendy doniger is the mircea eliade distinguished service professor of the history of religions at the university of chicago and the author of over 30 books, most recently the hindus.
The syllable om is composed of the three sounds aum in sanskrit, the vowels a and u combine to become o and the symbols threefold nature is central to its meaning. The fact that these critics attack doniger for being orientalist is doubly ironic, since her alternative history is explicitly intended to counter earlier western orientalist views of hinduism, especially hinduism as viewed and understood through an uppercaste brahminical lens. Hinduism, major world religion originating on the indian subcontinent and comprising several and varied systems of philosophy, belief, and ritual. Though rituals and practices vary among people who identify as wiccan, most observations include the. Library of congress cataloginginpublication data doniger, wendy. The history of hinduism is unique among the world religions in that it has no founder or date of origin. She is the author of several translations of sanskrit texts, including penguin classics editions of hindu myths and the rig veda, as well as many books about.
Pdf the hindus an alternative history wendy doniger ripu. Note if the content not found, you must refresh this page manually. Doniger is at pains to argue in chapters 1 and 2 of the book that there was nothing called hinduism in the past, and that it is a modern construct. Download hinduism for dummies or read hinduism for dummies online books in pdf, epub and mobi format. In her book, doniger retells hindu stories and provides snarky interpretations. There has been much handwringing in india about wendy donigers book, the hindus. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the hindus. The book was initially published by viking penguin in 2009 and later in india by penguins indian subsidiary, penguin india the book was criticized in india, and in february 2014 it was the subject of litigation in. An alternative history from the worlds largest community of readers. Hinduism does not lend itself easily to a strictly chronological account. An engrossing and definitive narrative account of history and myth that offers a new way of understanding one of the worlds oldest major. Includes more than 60 essays and lectures spanning the decadeslong career of one of hinduisms most prominent scholars. Since there are so many books about hinduism, the author of yet another one has a duty.
However, the same doniger then uses modern terms like dalit to. I prepared this publishers desk drawn from our book what is hinduism. Hinduism is also known by the names sanatanadharmaand vaidikadharma. Outcry as penguin india pulps alternative history of hindus. Vedic hinduism is a contradiction in terminis since vedic religion is very different from what we generally call hindu religion, at least as much old hebrew religion is from medieval and modern christian religion. The washington post an engrossing and definitive narrative account of history and myth, the hindus offers a new way of understanding one of the worlds oldest major religions. However, vedic religion is treatable as a predecessor of hinduism. Hinduism a brief overview of the development of hinduism. Its alternative history as a vedic temple by stephen knapp ebook online at lulu. It is not based on a set of dogmas preached by a particular set of teachers. And so the alternative history is a record not of what the british used to call maps and chaps geography and biography but of the stories in history.
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