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Bhardwaj, Surinder Mohan. Hindu Places of Pilgrimage in India: A Study in Cultural Geography. Berkeley: University
of California Press, 1973
A cultural geographic
study of the institution of pilgrimage to holy places
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Coleman, Simon & Elsner, John. Pilgrimage:
Past and Present in the World Religions. Cambridge: Harvard University
Press, 1995.
A broad cross
cultural study of pilgrimage as it fuctions today and its antecedants
in history. A nicely illustrated text.
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Dimmitt, Cornelia & van Buitenen, J.A.B. Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskrit
Puranas. Philadelphia: Temple University
Press, 1978.
A compulation
of Hindu myths that provide a broad foundation to Indian
religious mythology. I have recommended to all my friends
traveling to India for the first time to read this book.
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Eck, Diana. Banaras: City of Light.
Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1982
A classic study
on India's holiest city.
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Eck, Diana. Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image
in India. Chambersberg: Anima Books, 1985
A slim volume
which focuses on "the power and importance of "seeing"
in the Hindu Religious Tradition." This book is a wonderful
introduction to Hinduism and I highly recommend anyone planning
a trip to India to take this book with them.
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Fuller, C. J. The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism
and Society in India. Princeton, Princeton University
Press, 1992.
A very readable
anthropological study of popular Hinduism in India. This
book examines how Hinduism is practiced by every day people.
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Eliade, Mircea. The Sacred & the Profane: The
Nature of Religion. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
Inc, 1959.
The classic
study of religion.
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Gold, Ann Grodzins. Fruitful Journeys: The Ways of
Rajasthani Pilgrims. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1987.
An anthropological
study of Rajistani pilgrims and home and on the road.
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Hansen, Thomas Blom. The Saffron Wave: Democracy and
Hindu Nationalism in Modern India. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999.
A detailend
analysis of the rise of right-wing Hindu nationalist and religious
movements in India.
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Housden, Roger. Travels Through Sacred India. London: Thorsons, 1996.
A concise and
personal introduction to Hinduism. Housden's vignettes
of his personal experiences are heartfelt without being too sentimental.
Nice appendicies include a Gazzetter of Sacred Places, a
jisting of Gurus, Ashrams and Retreat Centes, and a list of Hindu
festivals.
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Jha, Makhan (ed). Social Anthropology of Pilgrimage. New Delhi: Inter-India Publications, 1991.
A compulation
of essays on the broad range of academic study of pilgrimage in
India.
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Munro, Eleanor. On Glory Roads: A Pilgrims Book
about Pilgrimage. New York: Thames and Hundson
Inc., 1987.
A cross cultural
study of pilgrimage as practice. Munro undertook pilgrimages
in many areas of the world to study the phenomena. The chapter
on India is concise, well reseached and very readable.
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Siegel, Lee Net of Magic: Wonders and Deceptions
in India. The University o Chicago Press,
1991
Net of Magic
is a wonderful study of Indian Magic told in a series of narratives.
As Siegel writes "This book is a set of tricks, illusions
that are mean to represent realities, and realities meant to represent
illusions."
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Salomon, Richard. (trans) The Bridge to Three Holy Cities:
The Samanya-praghattaka of Narayana Bhatta's Tristhalisetu. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1985.
A translation
of a classical text on pilgrimage. Extensive details on
the traditional mechanics of going on pilgrimage (who can
go, what you can and can not do, etc).
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Tagare, G.V. (trans.) Skanda Purana: Part 1.
Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1992.
A classical
Hindu mythological text. Many references to places of pilgrimage.
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van Buitenen, J.A.B. (trans) The Mahabharata: Volume 2. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1975.
Detailed translation
of the classic Indian epic poem The Mahabharata. Volume 2 includes
the chapter "The Tour of Sacred Fords" which discusses
a pan-Indian circumambulation of sacred places.
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