India: A Sacred Geography

The author approaches the subject with the perfect mixture of a scholar's detachment and a Truth-seeker's attachment, while traversing the length and breadth of India, to present the reader a panoptic views of the sacred sites - and their imageries - dotting the country. The result is a book that resonated with this reader for its theoretical conclusions as well as for its ability to vicariously convey the transcending emotions of devotees and the beauty of the places (eg in the Himalayas). For example, the narration of the arathi (devotional offering) at the PAdmanabhaswamy Temple, Kerala was very evocative. As was the deep connectivity established between the devotees of Krishna and his figurine at the havelis through the fascinating descriptions of costume changes and playful activities of the Lord. The book is thus filled with interesting - and quite often less well-known - details and facts,spanning a number of deities and shrines, all in one cogent narrative. The book provides an integrative way of looking at the facts and presents a holistic picture which helps the reader assimilate the spirituality of the region. Eck has "condensed" - to use her perspective-laden term - a veritable ocean of facts, lore and information,to present this succinct and eminently readable tome. This, in itself, is a huge feat. Moreover, that she has been, as indicated earlier, to imbue the text with the "bhakthi-ic" element is very praiseworthy. The detailed notes presented at the end is indicative of her extensive textual survey and is another trove of detailed information for the interested reader, over and above what is presented in the main section. Although occasionally repetitive, the repetition could also be construed as useful as it serves to refresh the facts before presenting the theory or conclusion; sometimes construction of sentences /concepts and use of certain words/jargon may render the ideas being conveyed somewhat difficult to follow for a non-anthropologist; however, on the whole, such instances are quite rare. To sum up, a very informative and enjoyable book.

But the truly effacacious pilgrimmage is one that combines the ritual journey with true faith, " the one who always bathes in earthly tirthas as well as the tirthas of the heart reaches the supreme goal." Diane Eck, 'India: A Sacred Geography.Two themes stand out in this outstanding scholarly study of 'India: A Sacred Geography', A) the pilgrim and B) What is India.This book approaches the landscape from the pilgrims' point of view: as mythology rooted in geography. Ms Eck travels to the sites of Shiva's many manifestations, picks up the pieces of the dismembered goddess, and visits the temples dedicated to Vishnu. In Braj, in north India, she relates immersive reconstructions of stories from Krishna's life which pilgrims re-enact. Finally, she traces the journey made by Ram as he travelled from Ayodhya in the north to Lanka (presumed to be present-day Sri Lanka) in the south, navigating the length of the country.Eck's book conclusively shows that India is shaped not by the modern notion of a nation-state, "but by the extensive and intricate interrelation of geography and mythology (around rivers, shores, mountains, forests) that has produced this vast landscape of tirthas". Pandit Nehru said this even more authoritatively in his historic address at AICC's Madurai session in October 1961: "India has, for ages past, been a country of pilgrimages. All over the country, you find these ancient places, from Badrinath, Kedarnath and Amarnath, high up in the snowy Himalayas down to Kanyakumari in the south. What has drawn our people from the south to the north and from the north to the south in these great pilgrimages? It is the feeling of one country and one culture."The Spirit of India is, in fact, the Idea of India. You cannot even begin to understand India without acknowledging, experiencing and comprehending its sacredness-that is, without becoming a pilgrim yourself. Whether you go to Girnar,Chisti's Dargah in Ajmer, or Kanyakumari, whether you bathe in the Holy Ganga or in the "tirthas of the heart" ,to reach the shores of after-life, is up to you.In closing, the idea of Indian sacredness is not some western concept grafted on to the subcontinent in a fit of mystical Orientalism: it is instead an idea central to India's mythological conception of itself, which "continues to anchor millions of people in the imagined landscape of their country". Hindu mythology consistently visualises India as a spiritually charged and "living landscape in which mountains, rivers, forests and villages are elaborately linked to the stories of the gods and heroes. The land bears traces of the gods and the footprints of the heroes. Every place has its story and, conversely, every story in the vast storehouse of myth and legend has its place ... In this mental map, geography is overlaid with layer upon layer of story."As Professor Eck writes in her conclusion: "The affirmation of the everywhere of the sacred - this is the peculiar genius of the theology given expression in the landscape of India."