Cultural History of Hinduism in Antiquity

Spanning 2000 BCE to 200 CE, the age of antiquity saw the development of Brahmanism and the early emergence of Hinduism. Key topics explored in this volume on antiquity include the creation of Vedic authority; ideologies that imbue the body with social, political, and cosmic meanings; priestly and domestic ritual developments; differing dialogues on the nature and goal of humanity; patronage; relationships between priests and kings; the visuality of coronation rituals; competing accounts of cosmological and historical pasts across Brahmanic and non-Brahmanic traditions; and enduring issues of Brahman identity.A Cultural History of Hinduism in Antiquity is part of a six-volume set providing an authoritative survey of one of the world’s oldest religious traditions in its social and cultural contexts, from ancient times to the present. Each volume includes essays on sources of authority; body and mind; social organization and everyday norms; identity, difference, and dialogue; power and politics; visual culture; lineages and emerging exemplars and movements; and global context.