- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Teach Yourself; New Ed edition (28 Mar 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340859679
- ISBN-13: 978-0340859674
- Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 12.9 x 1.9 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 339,057 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
This is a practical introduction to the variety of religious traditions that come from the Indian sub-continent and which are known collectively as 'Hinduism'.
This clear and accessible guide covers:
- an account of the diversity and underlying unity of Hinduism
- Hindu mythology
- temples and worship
- Hindu worship in the home
- family life and values
- life-cycle rituals within the Hindu community
- Hindu ethics
- Hinduism in a world context and alongside other faiths.
This text is part of the "Teach Yourself World Faiths" series. The book offers a basis for understanding Hinduism. The series aims to present information for readers with no prior knowledge of the religion, but who want to deal confidently with members of the faith community - both in terms of their beliefs and attitudes, and also the practical details of their culture, ceremonies, diet and moral views. The book is suitable for the general reader, and also for students seeking a broad understanding of the religion prior to embarking on more detailed academic work.
This clear and accessible guide covers:
- an account of the diversity and underlying unity of Hinduism
- Hindu mythology
- temples and worship
- Hindu worship in the home
- family life and values
- life-cycle rituals within the Hindu community
- Hindu ethics
- Hinduism in a world context and alongside other faiths.
This text is part of the "Teach Yourself World Faiths" series. The book offers a basis for understanding Hinduism. The series aims to present information for readers with no prior knowledge of the religion, but who want to deal confidently with members of the faith community - both in terms of their beliefs and attitudes, and also the practical details of their culture, ceremonies, diet and moral views. The book is suitable for the general reader, and also for students seeking a broad understanding of the religion prior to embarking on more detailed academic work.
About the Author
V. P. Hemant Kanitkar was born and schooled in India and came to Briatin in 1948. He obtained degrees, both in Sanskrit and History at London University. He taught in various secondary schools in the London area for 26 years. After retiring in 1984, he has written eleven books on Hinduism and India for British schools. The author also officiates as a priest for major Hindu rites of passage. Owen Cole has taught at every stage of education from junior schools to university. He is a vice president of the World Congress of Faiths, a member of the Other Faiths Commission of the Churches together in Britain and Ireland and a founder member of the Shap Working Party on World Religions in Education. He is visiting research fellow at University College, Chichester. He has written or contributed to some thirty five books. His principal interest is religious education in school, a recent contribution has been RE in the Primary Curriculum, Religous and Moral Education Press.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having read a couple of other books in the Teach Yourself series I was thoroughly looking forward to this one. After a few chapters, however, I was finding it a continuous struggle to read on. At first I wasn't sure if it was the author's ability or the subject matter that was at fault (I'm usually quite an enthusiastic reader of religious material so it certainly couldn't have been me:)), but as I read on it became clear it was the former. More specifically it's his unfaltering tendency to concentrate on the frivolous ritualistic and ceremonial aspects of Hinduism at the expense of its fascinating origin, history and theological and philosophical systems of thought that make this dire reading. That's not to say he ignores these things completely, he doesn't, but they seem to be mentioned as a mere afterthought.
For brevities sake I will give but one example of this. Chapter upon chapter is devoted to various rituals and ceremonies such as marriage ceremonies, the naming of a child and ritual cleanliness, yet the major gods of the religion get barely a page or so - less than in an encyclopaedia! Further, to my mind any general introduction to a world religion should begin with, or at least have near its beginning, its origins. The world faiths did not just appear out of thin air in the fully crystallised solid structures you see today. There may not be a definitive founding figure in Hinduism as there is with Buddhism, Christianity and Islam but a few paragraphs explaining the Aryan migration to India, the Veda and the Vedic age would seem appropriate. Indeed such topics do not even have a sub-heading and are referred to almost accidentally.
In short if you want a book that concentrates on the ritualistic elements of Hinduism then look no further. This book is littered with in depth commentaries on such things as the preparation of food such as rice-balls for offerings, a personal account of a woman preparing a rice-ball and a further account of the placing of the rice-ball on the Lord Ganesha's copper tray (combined with a detailed analysis of copper-trayanism - an understanding of which is, of course, a prerequisite to fully comprehend the rice-ball offering). If, on the other hand, you're not particularly interested in rice-balls and require a deeper understanding of Hinduism's theosophy, history, its deities and philosophical schools of thought then this book is not for you. Indeed it's incredibly dull!
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is very good to teach from the basics all about Hinduism and all that Hindus believe and practice. It is easy to understand and well explained, laid out in short but digestible chapters in specific topics for easy reference. Well worth a read if you want to find out about Hinduism, especially if you don't have much of a foundation of the religion or any world religion. This book is a good place to start. Also available in this series is "Teach Yourself; Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism and Budism." I have found all of these books to be very interesting and useful to teach me all about the world religions. They start from the basics and bring you right up to degree standard, within one short book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
By charting the story of a boy growing up in the Hindu faith, rather than simply providing bullets and paragraphs of key Hindu tenets, the book provides real insight into what it means to follow the Hindu tradition. I challenge people of any faith or no faith to read this book and every other book in the series. Whatever your opinion of a specific religion or religion in general, by reading these books without prejudice your understanding can only be enhanced.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Ridiculous length of time to arrive
Product not in bad condition considering. However very unhappy with the amount of time it took to arive ! About 5 weeks ! Read more
Published 22 months ago by YumMum
Brief and informative introduction to Hinduism and Indian lifestyle
Hemant Kanitkar's (who is a priest of the Hindu community) and Owen Cole's "Hinduism" is a book of 208 pages about the major India's religion -Hinduism. Read more
Published on 9 Sep 2006 by A reader
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