Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online

While the high degree of selection necessary in an overview of notable modern Hindu astrologers can never entirely escape the charge of subjectivity, the writers and practitioners discussed below have been selected on the combined grounds of the quantity and quality of their output, representability with regard to different astrological styles and trends, and discernible influence on the development of modern Hindu astrology. With regard to the last criterion, astrologers publishing in English h…

Modern legal structures and laws in India impinge on Hinduism in two distinct ways. First, a system of personal law that was first introduced by the British and continued under the Indian Constitution exists under the name Hindu law and is applied as the family law of Hindus. Second, other practices and institutions of Hinduism not dealt with under Hindu law are also governed by the Indian state. Conversely, Hinduism and Hindu practitioners influence the modern legal framework by promoting a dis…

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, or, with honorific title, Mahatma Gandhi is arguably the most renowned representative of Hinduism of the 20th century. He propagated nonviolence ( ahiṃsā), insistence on truth ( satyāgraha; satya), and self-restraint as the fundamental principles of religion, guiding all activities whether political, social, religious, or personal. Life must be guided and pervaded by religion, which must not be accorded to a private or “otherworldy” sphere. This view is one of the reasons for his criticism of moder…

Hindu religious communities ( sampradāyas) are often institutionalized in maṭhas or āśramas (monasteries, religious centers), places of residence, study, and worship for religious specialists as well as lay people. Individual religious teachers ( gurus) as well seek to establish such places in order to pursue their religious goals and teach their disciples. A monastery is also a place of interaction between the resident monks and the laity. The latter usually support religious specialists through their donations and receive, i…

Mudrā in different texts and contexts might mean not only coin (money), fingerring or earring, mark, and sign of recognition but also a method of calculation and a decoration of poetry. Such meanings as “seal” and “sign of recognition” can be found in Kauṭilya’s Arthaśāstra (13.4.41; 2nd–3rd cents. CE; Olivelle, 2013, 29, 31). Mudrā as the gesture sign will be discussed on the basis of three different kinds of sources: 1.  texts on dance and performance (see drama and theatre); 2.  texts on iconography; and 3.  tantric texts (Tantras). Mudrās in TheatreAccording to secondary literatur…

The origins of the Mughal Empire date back to 1526, when the Timurid ruler of central Asia – Bābūr – invaded North India in the final years of the Delhi Sultanate, which ruled over North India between 1206 and 1526. Bābūr ruled from 1526 to 1530, and after his death, the fight for the control of North India was continued by his son, Humāyūn. Humāyūn ruled over North India between 1530 and 1538, when he was overthrown by the Afghan ruler Šīr Šāh Sūrī (r. 1540–1545). Afghan rule over North India c…

Swami Muktananda died in 1982 at the height of his Siddha Yoga movement’s success. Before his death, or mahāsamādhi, Siddha Yoga had become a worldwide movement with āśrams and centers in many countries, boasting a quarter of a million followers. For the Siddha Yoga community, the death of their guru was sudden and devastating; to his followers, Muktananda was Siddha Yoga. Born in 1908, and named Krishna, Muktananda did not often talk of his family or childhood, although, it is known that he left home at the age of 15 to follow the life of an ascetic and…

Murukaṉ, sometimes anglicized as Murugan, and also known in Indian history by such names as Kumāra, Skanda, Subrahmaṇya and Kārttikeya, is one of the most popular gods of Tamil-speaking Hindus. Today Murukaṉ is the embodiment of Tamil renaissance; his pilgrimage centers are among the most popular in South India. The deity is perceived in a wide variety of ways by people in all walks of life: as combining Sanskrit and Tamil motifs, mythology and philosophy, classical and modern themes, both Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava elements and much that reflects the self-perceptions of his worshippers.T…

In village bhajan sessions and urban concert halls, at daily pūjās and seasonal festivals, and at sacred sites and on long pilgrimages, a wide variety of music serves as vehicles for Hindu devotion. The power of music is a prominent theme in South Asian literature and folklore. The Kriyākālaguṇottara, for example, prescribes melodies played on consecrated instruments to cure poisoning. The Jaiminīyabrāhmaṇa describes the resurrection of a boy through the sounding of a particular melody. Hagiographies of singer-saints such as Tukārām, Gopāl Nāik, and Ty…