Stephen Huyler is a photographer, art historian, and cultural anthropologist who has spent more than three decades travelling in India and documenting aspects of Hinduism.
"An engaging story book, an exquisite photo journey into the heart of India and especially, a superb overview of the ways and whys of Hindu worship." Hinduism Today "This is a book that simply glows with light and life. The Hindu world that Stephen Huyler shows is luminous, suffused with spirituality, and deeply inspiring." Deepak Chopra "A full colour tour of India through the eyes and lens of a noted historian - photographer." Bill Broadway, Washington Post "The best basic introduction to contemporary Hinduism to appear in many years." Library Journal "Sure to become an enduring work... Huyler's riveting prose and lavish photos bring Hinduism and its practices to life in all their richness and diversity." Publishers Weekly
This book was written to accompany an exhibition titled "Puja: Expressions of Hindu Devotion," which the Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery has put on tour. More a work of devotion than a didactic text, it displays the author's delight in his subject. Huyler, a photographer, art historian, and cocurator of the exhibition, spent many years working and traveling in India. In this book, he focuses sympathetically on individual Hindus, detailing their daily practice and worship and avoiding erudite matters of doctrine and cosmology. Each chapter begins with the narrative of some devotional observanceÄworship at the family shrine, for instance, or participation in a public festivalÄuntil, by the end, readers feel that they have grasped a little about how Hindus respond emotionally to God. The best basic introduction to contemporary Hinduism to appear in many years; recommended for both public and academic libraries.ÄJames F. DeRoche, Alexandria, VA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
For centuries, India's strict caste system prohibited many Hindus from worshipping their gods in a public way simply because lower caste Hindus could not afford the services of a brahmin (a priest). Yet Huyler, co-curator of the Puja: Expressions of Hindu Devotion exhibition at the Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, notes that these lower caste families and individuals found many ways to worship and to keep alive devotion to their own religion. In what is sure to become an enduring work, the author provides descriptions of the many devotional rituals that occupy Hindus as they seek darshan, seeing and being seen by God. In an opening chapter, Huyler explains the major concepts of Hindu devotions: puja, "a ceremonial act of showing reverence to a God or Goddess through invocation, prayer, song, and ritual"; dharma, "the supreme law of righteousness"; karma, "the doctrine of absolute responsibility"; varna, the caste system; Brahmanas, priests and their families. Using stories and photographs, Huyler describes the elements of public worship in a Hindu temple, the rituals accompanying worship in the home, the practices surrounding community festivals, processions that honor specific deities and the coming-of-age ceremonies that mark adolescence and old age. Photos grace every page: 200 in all, gorgeous full-color depictions of temples, household shrines, statuary of deities, sacred sites such as the Ganges River and people engaged in particular ritual activities and processions. Huyler's riveting prose and lavish photos bring Hinduism and its practices to life in all their richness and diversity. (Sept.) FYI: The book will accompany an exhibition that opens at the Houston Museum of Natural Science in fall 1999. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
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