Sacred India (Lonely Planet Pictorial) (Hardcover)

by Masood Hayat (Author), Sarina Singh (Author), Meera Govil (Author), Sue Mitra (Author), William Dalrymple (Author), Richard I'Anson (Photographer)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Sacred India is a close-focus view of spirituality in India with a very God-is-in-the-details approach. Lonely Planet tackles a bafflingly large subject with admirable grace in this loosely structured, accessibly sized coffee-table book. A florid painting of Ganesh, a hundred capped heads bowed in prayer, weather-beaten flags whipped in the Himalayan wind: all are diverse glimpses of India's spiritual cultures. India's four major religions--Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, and Buddhism--are gathered in an impressionistic collage of vibrant photos and text. Christianity, Jainism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, as well as tribal religions and gurus are also covered in smaller sections. The book's photos are lavish in color and pungently evocative--but decidedly not opulent. They excel at the intensely personal (a lotus flower, a turban-swathed camel trader, a Muslim woman reading the Quran), but their zoomed-in style sometimes falls short of capturing the sense of awe and grandeur we like to associate with religion. Sacred India offers brief glimpses of a wide-ranging and multicolored land; but unlike the fable of the blind men and the elephant, the picture formed in the mind's eye from these richly textured details will be greater than the sum of its parts. --Jhana Bach

From Publishers Weekly
Don't be fooled by the dazzling coffee-table format of this extravaganza or by the fact that it comes from one of the travel industry's major publishing houses. The photography is stunning, to be sure, but it is complemented by a perceptive, inclusive text. The first third of the book is devoted to Hinduism and its vibrant pastiche of religious beliefs and practices. The photographs illustrate various concepts of Indian beliefs (one two-page spread shows a corpse decorated for burial and a peacefully sleeping infant, to demonstrate samsara, the cycle of rebirth). The authors, all Lonely Planet writers, profile Hinduism's various deities and interview pilgrims and practitioners about their devotion. Readers meet, among others, a professional parcel packer who lights incense and blesses his tools in preparation for work and an elderly housewife who spends an hour each morning greeting and feeding the household gods. In addition to Hinduism, major religions such as Islam, Sikhism and Buddhism are well represented; nods are also given to other religions such as Christianity (whose 18 million followers are concentrated primarily in South India), Jainism, Zoroastrianism and tribal religions. A brief but fascinating section explores India's tiny Jewish community. (A Jewish baker declares proudly, "As long as there is one Jew, I'll continue to make challot on Friday. It is tradition.") The book offers gorgeous photographs of sacred buildings, such as an unforgettable night shot of the Sikh Golden Temple, its image reflected on the Pool of Nectar. Even more impressive are the representations of the "tangibles" of Indian religions: prayer books, shrines (including one in a taxi), figurines, foods, ritual clothing, holy books and body decorations. Sacred India is a feast for the mind as well as the eyes. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 166 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications; illustrated edition edition (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1864500638
• ISBN-13: 978-1864500639
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 8.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,542,347 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sacred India, April 11, 2000

By A Customer

Beautiful evocation of the many religions that make up India. The book focuses mainly on the tenets and customs of the four major religions in India...Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, and Buddhism...but touches on the other religions as well, if more briefly. The juxtaposition of the photographs, history, explanations of religious practices, and the words and experiences of the faithful brings these religions to life with great clarity. My only complaint is that the pictures are too small...although a "coffee table" size book might have proved a bit more unwieldy to read, the photographs would have had greater visual impact had they been larger. Yet overall, I would recommend this book as a good introduction to the spiritual life of India and its people.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An introduction to religions in India, November 23, 2002

By	recipedelights.com reviewer (San Francisco, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet Sacred India (Paperback)

India is a secular country that respects all religions. It is the birthplace of both Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism. It also has one of the world's oldest Jewish communities (though it is fast depleting thanks to emigration to Israel). The tolerance and acceptance of each other's very different beliefs is a part of the Indian psyche. Whatever one may read about religious violence in that country is more a result of manipulations by politicians than anything else.

This coffee-table format book offers a simplistic high-level introduction to the very complex subject of religions in India including Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism, Christianity, Jainism, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism- some more detailed than the other. It contains color photographs on every page. Rather than the photographs complementing the text, each text block describes a specific photograph. Some pictures and text associated with Hinduism are very region specific and are not a general representation of the religion. E.g. picture of the Bride and the practice described is very specific to Bengal state. This may be as much as 95% different for other brides, depending on the state. Since an attempt has been made to cover a very complex subject in a few pages, the result is surface grazing of the subject rather than deep insight or detailed treatment. The impact of religion on daily life is well represented and explained. This book by Lonely Planet is a decent starter book for introduction to various religions.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Overview with gorgeous photos, November 7, 2004

By	J. Marren "jtm497" (Glen Ridge, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lonely Planet Sacred India (Paperback)

India is a place where you'll miss A LOT if you don't have some understanding of the religious traditions. This lovely book covers the great religions--Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, etc.--with an admittedly broad brush, but it's enough to give you a taste of what you'll see and hopefully whet your appetite for more. Not quite a coffee table book, not really a guide book--but Lonely Planet generally does a good job of conveying culture as well as travel facts. Would also make a nice gift.