Hinduism and the Religious Arts

Introducing an analysis of the inter-relationship of Hindu arts - sculpture, dance, drama, music and temple architecture, this text examines the importance of certain key art forms throughout the Indian subcontinent. The definition of what is meant by religion (no such word exists in Sanskrit), and what is understood by Hindu ideals of beauty, form the background of the later chapters of the book, which examine the role of artists, patrons and users; the symbolism of the temple, the image of deities and the didactic role of the arts. The author concludes that Hinduism emerges as a religion in the modern sense of the term, but also through its art, as a social religious whole.