Pravina Shukla is Associate Professor in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University. She is author of Costume: Performing Identities through Dress (IUP) and editor (with Ray Cashman and Tom Mould) of The Individual and Tradition: Folkloristic Perspectives (IUP).

In this unique and fascinating volume, the author calls the realm of her concern 'body art,' which is intended to denote all aesthetic modifications and supplementations to the body. Using rich firsthand interviews and information from modern India, folklorist Shukla (Indiana Univ.) traces the art of the body through the production of saris, bangles, and other goods and commerce and shopping, both of which are the arena of men. From this point, the author interviews individual women on personal adornment and finishes her study with a discussion of body art in the life cycle, with particular reference to weddings. For folklorists and cultural anthropologists, this is a treasure trove of information. For students of religion, it provides the material reference to the system of beliefs. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.(Choice) Well-researched and well-produced, The Grace of Four Moons is a welcome addition to the scholarly canon for a wide range of academic as well as more popular objectives. 69.1, 2010(Western Folklore) For folklorists and cultural anthropologists, this is a treasure trove of information. For students of religion, it provides the material reference to the system of beliefs. . . . Highly recommended.September 2008(Choice) The Grace of Four Moons provides a wealth of information about clothing and jewelry as an outlet for women seeking freedom of expression in India, while staying with a traditional framework.June 18, 2008(India Currents Magazine) The book is skillfully organized, written in a clear, jargon-free, unpretentious style . . . and it is an outstanding first work by a most promising young scholar. October 15, 2008- Charles G Zug III (Journal of Folklore Research)

• ContentsAcknowledgmentsPart 1. Introduction1. Body Art in Banaras2. Getting Ready3. Gaze, Sacred and SecularPart 2. Production and Commerce4. Shopping for Clothes5. Weaving Saris6. Making Jewelry7. Kanhaiya Lal8. Shopping along the Vishvanath Gali9. Assembling Bangle SetsPart 3. Personal Adornment10. Nina Khanchandani11. Neelam Chaturvedi12. Mukta TripathiPart 4. Body Art in the Lifecycle13. After the Wedding14. Before the Wedding15. The WeddingPart 5. Conclusion16. The Study of Body ArtGlossaryNotesBibliographyIndex