Temple to Love: Architecture and Devotion in Seventeenth-Century Bengal

By: Pika Ghosh

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Synopsis: "[A]n excellent analytical study of a sensationally beautiful type of temple. . . . This work is not just art historical but embraces . . . religious studies, anthropology, history, and literature." —Catherine B. Asher"[A]dvances our knowledge of . . . Bengali temple building practices, the complex inter-reliance between religion, state power, and art, and the ways in which Western colonial assumptions have distorted correct interpretation. . . . A splendid book." —Rachel Fell McDermottIn the flux created by the Mughal conquest, Hindu landholders of eastern India began to build a spectacularly beautiful new style of brick temple, known as Ratna. This "bejeweled" style combined features of Sultanate mosques and thatched houses, and included second-story rooms conceived as the pleasure grounds of the gods, where Krishna and his beloved Radha could rekindle their passion. Pika Ghosh uses art historical, archaeological, textual, and ethnographic approaches to explore this innovation in the context of its times. Includes 82 stunning black-and-white images of rarely photographed structures.Published in association with the American Institute of Indian Studies

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
Book Size:: 280 Pages
ISBN-13:: 9780253023537
Related ISBNs:: 9780253344878
Publisher:: Indiana University Press
Date of Addition:: 01/27/25
Copyrighted By:: Pika Ghosh
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: History, Nonfiction, Art and Architecture, Religion and Spirituality
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.