Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online

Get access Subject: Asian Studies

Edited by: Knut A. Jacobsen (Editor-in-Chief), University of Bergen, and Helene Basu, University of Münster, Angelika Malinar, University of Zürich, Vasudha Narayanan, University of Florida (Associate Editors)

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Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism presents the latest research on all the main aspects of the Hindu traditions. Its 438 essays are original work written by the world’s foremost scholars on Hinduism. The encyclopedia presents a balanced and even-handed view of Hinduism, recognizing the divergent perspectives and methods in the academic study of a religion that has ancient historical roots with many flourishing traditions today. Including all essays from the heralded printed edition, Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism is now to be regularly updated with new articles and available in a fully searchable, dynamic digital format.


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Krishnamacharya

(2,918 words)

Author(s): Smith, Frederick
T. Krishnamacharya, who lived for just over a century (1888–1989), is generally acknowledged as the founder of modern postural yoga. His most high-profile direct disciples, all long lived, were B.K.S. Iyengar (1918–), K. Pattabhi Jois (1915–2009), Krishnamacharya’s son T.K.V. Desikachar (1938–), and Indra Devi (1899–2002). It is through them, their students, and their nuancing of Krishnamacharya’s ever-evolving system that the culture and practice of what has been called modern yoya
Date: 2020-05-18

Kṛṣṇa

(10,769 words)

Author(s): Malinar, Angelika
Kṛṣṇa (lit. black, dark blue, dark) is one of most important and popular gods in Hinduism, venerated from early times as a clan god, an epic hero, and the God of the Bhagavadgītā and the Bhāgavatapurāṇa, and later worshipped in various devotional traditions and regional cults. He is at the center of various legendary traditions, theological interpretations, and distinctive forms of cult and ritual, as well as a number of religious communities, whose followers direct their religious aspirations towards him. Origins, Earliest EvidenceIn contrast to other deities that became…
Date: 2020-05-18

Kuladevī

(3,088 words)

Author(s): Luchesi, Brigitte
A great many Hindus regularly worship so-called kul deities who may be either goddesses ( kuladevīs) or gods ( kuladevatās, kuldevas). In many parts of the Indian subcontinent, however, female kul deities are predominant.A kul deity is the goddess or god of the kinship unit, termed kula or kul, to which an individual Hindu belongs either by birth or by marriage. Depending on region, caste, and local usage, kul may refer to various levels of kinship organization. The term may be applied to unilinear descent groups whose founding ancestors are said to have lived h…
Date: 2020-05-18