For the hundreds of millions of Hindu people in India, devotional practices offer meaning and balance to daily existence. Household rituals and community festivals frame Hindu life, and prayers enfold the hours—acknowledging the sacred dawn, honoring the spirits within the tools of one’s work, seeking the protection of deities in the night. This beautiful book is the first to enable readers in the West to witness the breadth and vitality of the reverential experience in India. With hundreds of pictures to fire the imagination and eloquent descriptions of the wide scope of Hindu beliefs and practices, the book is a deeply satisfying introduction to the religion embraced by one-sixth of the world’s people, including more than one million adherents in the United States.
Stephen Huyler’s arresting photographs document the spirituality of common men and women in India. His evocative pictures, set in houses, at roadsides, and in temples, enable us to see directly into the heart of Hindu belief: the essential moment of worship known as darshan, or “seeing and being seen by God.” With definitions, descriptions, and captivating stories of Hindu individuals at worship, Huyler offers us a deep understanding of the Hindu people, their belief in the spiritual component of all human activity, their awareness of the sacred, their daily worship experiences, and their ways of meeting God.
