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Book: Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism

Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism is a five volume thematic encyclopedia, presenting the latest research on all the main aspects of the Hindu traditions in original essays written by the world’s foremost scholars on Hinduism. The first volume was released in September 2009 and the next four volumes will be released in the next four years. This encyclopedia is more scholarly in nature.

Founded in 1683 in Leiden, the Netherlands, Brill is a leading international academic publisher in the Humanities and Social Sciences.

About Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism from flyer

The Encyclopedia explicitly adopts an interdisciplinary and pluralistic approach, and in it, the term “Hinduism” is used critically in the knowledge that most of the

traditions that today make up Hinduism are much older than the term itself.

The Encyclopedia aims at a balanced and even-handed view of Hinduism, recognizing the tensions inherent in the academic examination of Hinduism. It emphasizes that Hinduism is a conglomerate of regional religious traditions and at the same time a global world religion. Hinduism is also both an ancient historical tradition and a living tradition flourishing in the contemporary world. It is an oral tradition, yet one with a huge number of sacred texts at its basis. Hinduism is both a religious identity and an object of academic scholarship.

Illustrated with maps and photographs, Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism presents the learned philosophical and theological traditions of Hinduism as well as its many folk traditions. Covering the spread of Hinduism over the last two hundred years to all continents, as well as the interaction of Hinduism with other religions, it also portrays the various responses of Hindu traditions to a number of contemporary issues of great relevance today, such as feminism, human rights, egalitarianism and bioethics.

First volume of Brills’ Encyclopedia of Hinduism

The currently available volume 1 of Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism is titled –Regions, Pilgrimage, Deities. It presents the regional traditions of Hinduism, with articles on the Indian states and main regions of India, and on regions outside of India that are significant in the history of Hinduism. In addition, it has entries on sacred space and pilgrimage traditions, as well as sacred time and festival traditions. Secondly, it includes entries on the various gods, goddesses, and divine powers of Hinduism past and present.

Editor in Chief of the Encyclopedia of Hinduism is Knut A. Jacobsen, University of Bergen. Associate editors are Helene Basu, University of Münster, Angelika Malinar, University of Zürich and Vasudha Narayanan, University of Florida

The price of Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism (Set: Volumes 1-5) is US$ 1796. - (set price 2009/10) (One volume per year, 2009-2013)

The price of Volume I: Regions, Pilgrimage, Deities is US$ 354.

You can fine more information about the encyclopedia here at the official website.