*** India ***


Benares: The Sacred City of the Hindus

by M A Sherring

Benares, Kashi or Varanasi -- this illustrious place of pilgrimage and idealised nucleus of faith -- has been likened to Jerusalem or Mecca. It is acknowledged throughout the world as a centre of Hindu tradition and a seat of ancient learning. It is a city where infinity and continuity, the past and present, live together. There are few cities in the world of greater antiquity and none that have so uninterruptedly maintained their ancient celebrity and distinction.
This book, written just after the freedom struggle of 1857, offers a piercing insight into the culture of Benares as seen through the eyes of a European at that time.
The book will also tell you why this city has been for over two and a half thousand years the pre-eminent sacred city of the Hindus and why it has a primary status on the cultural map of India.

Paperback. 283 pages. B&W photographs.
Weight: 350 g (12.3 oz).
Item No: 81-7303-235-1.
Price: $US 4.50. . Convert Currency

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Benares, The Sacred City: Sketches of Hindu Life and Religion

by E B Havell

Benares (or Varanasi) represents the essential quality of India. Here is India's life and drama and its unyielding brutality. But here too, undiluted and almost tangible, is the mysterious and marvellous energy that has enticed and charmed so many foreigners over the centuries.
This book, published originally in 1905, remains an almost flawless guide to present-day Varanasi which has changed very little and still retains its charisma for those who search for ancient India.
The book gives a lucid outline of Hindu ideas and religious practices. It presents the innovative and aesthetic aspects of Indian religions, which can be better observed in few other places than in this sacred city and its neighbourhood.
This book will introduce the reader to the extraordinary cultural and spiritual richness of Varanasi and as such will be more rewarding than most travel books.

Paperback. 124 pages. B&W photographs.
Weight: 165 g (5.8 oz).
Item No: 81-7303-236-X.
Price: $US 3.50. . Convert Currency

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Mathura: A District Memoir by F S Growse The rambling city of Mathura, 141 kilometres south of Delhi, is famous as the place where the god Krishna was born and spent his boyhood. The city dates back at least 2,500 years and is important for both Hindus and Buddhists. This detailed local history of Mathura gives a full geographical and historical description of the city and its people. It explores Krishna's associations with the area. It takes us around the Hindu, Buddhist and European quarters of the city. Finally, it introduces us to the nearby town of Brindaban (Vrindavan) with its numerous temples, where 500,000 pilgrims flock each year to worship Krishna. An invaluable book for scholars and researchers. Hardback. 434 pages. B&W photographs. Weight: 1230 g (43.1 oz). Item No: 81-7624-050-8. Price: $US 26.95. . Convert Currency ADD TO SHOPPING CART

*** Ladakh ***


Ancient Futures, Learning from Ladakh

by Helena Norberg-Hodge

Preface by H.H. The Dalai Lama. Introduction by Peter Matthiessen.

This is more than a book about Ladakh. It questions the whole idea of progress and delves into the core problems of modern society. The way of life in Ladakh shows us that another way of life -- a kinder and gentler one -- is possible.

"We urgently need to steer toward a sustainable balance--a balance between urban and rural, male and female, culture and nature. Ladakh can help to show the way, by giving us a deeper understanding of the interrelated forces that are shaping our society. This wider perspective is, I believe, an essential step in learning how to heal ourselves and the planet."

Paperback. 203 pages. B&W photographs. Bibliography; index.
Weight: 270 g (9.5 oz).
Item No: 019563196X.
Price: $US4.00. . Convert Currency

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Ladak : Physical, Statistical and Historical with Notices of the Surrounding Countries

by Alexander Cunningham

The author visited Ladakh in 1846 and 1847. In this book (originally published in 1854), he gives to give a "full and accurate account account" of Ladakh, including its geography, mountains, rivers, lakes and springs, roads, climate, produce, commerce, government, people, history, religion and language.

Hardcover. 485 pages. B&W and colour illustrations.
Weight: 850 g (29.8 oz).
Item No: 8120612965.
Price: $US22.75. . Convert Currency

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*** Nepal ***


Toni Hagen's Nepal: The Kingdom in the Himalayas

by Toni Hagen. Revised and updated with Deepak Thapa

The Kingdom of Nepal, four times the size of Switzerland, is situated on the southern slopes of the Himalayas, the mountain range from which the highest summits in the world reach up into the sky. Like the nature of the country, varied and rich in contrasts, the inhabitants, too, were moulded variously and strikingly by the environment.

The Sherpa and Bhotiya of the High Himalayan valleys live sometimes only a few hours' walk away from mid-hill ethnic groups such as the Tamang, Rai or Limbu, who themselves live up-valley from the Chettri, Bahun and other Hindu caste groups. More ethnic and caste groups live where the hills descend precipitously to the Terai plains.

Heading out in the early 1950s from the hot and, at that time, still malaria infested lowlands of the Terai plains, through Nepal's Midlands (central hilly region) and up to and beyond the arctic regions of the central Himalayas, with peaks that attain heights of over 8000 m, covering a total distance of 14,000 km on foot, Swiss geologist Toni Hagen saw Nepal like no one had before him -- and very few have since. He visited areas that are still today closed to tourists and observed ceremonies and customs which have today been overtaken by the march of time. Toni Hagen set foot on every frontier crossing point into Tibet and there was no valley that he did not visit.

This book introduced Nepal to the outside world, both in text and in unmatched pictures of never-before-seen peoples and their landscapes. Not only did Hagen introduce the country to the outside world, it was also the first work to provide the leaders and administrators of the newly awakened country --that is, the Nepalis themselves -- with a holistic look at the geography and population of Nepal.

"This 'coffee-table' book is illustrated by superb photographs, which are mostly in colour... an excellent general account of Nepal." -- John Whelpton, Nepal (World Bibliographical Series)(ABC/Clio Press)

"One of the most complete studies of Nepal's people, geography and geology" -- Hugh Finlay, Nepal (Lonely Planet)

Hardback. 251 pages. Colour and B&W photographs. Maps; charts; tables etc.
Weight: 1770 g (62 oz).
Item No: 99937099.
Price: $US55.00. . Convert Currency

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Pokhara Valley: A Geographical Survey

by Harka Gurung

Pokhara, Nepal's second-largest town, has undergone an almost unbelievable transformation in the last four decades. The author, Dr Harka Gurung, undertook this detailed survey of the physical, human and economic geography of Pokhara back in 1962. As such it is of interest not only to government and professional planners but also for the general reader interested in seeing what Pokhara used to be like before the recent massive social and cultural changes.

Paperback. 96 pages. Colour maps. Tables; bibliography.
Weight: 325 g (11.4 oz).
Item No: N000027802.
Price: $3.90 . Convert Currency

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