Whereas north Indian bhakti traditions are familiar to anyone who reads about or even visits India, very little is known about south Indian saints. Even in north India few people have heard of Antal, Sundarar, or Sambandar. So much so that bronze images of some of these saints are often mis-identified as, say, a child Krishna.

Vidya Dehejia introduces us to this unfamiliar subject, so important to south Indian poetry, dance, music, and cultural history in general by giving us an overview of all the saints - the Nayanmars (who followed Shiva) and the Alvars (devotees of Vishnu). For each she includes both biographical details, where available, and popular hagiography. By including accounts of their miracles and epiphanies, she gives added dimensions to her excellent translations of their passionate poems, in which they cry out to a very personal vision of god.

As always with this author, the book is extremely informative, but the information is so delightfully presented, that it entertains and uplifts as it widens one's knowledge. Her style is direct, with not a little humour. Her prose has aneasy flow, and the poetry of her "transcreations" (they are not just 'translations')soar with the music to which the originals are usually set. Having read this book, literally thousands of bronze images and sculptures from south India come alive in ways they never could have before. Brava!

I actully havn't read or seen this book yet, but I have seen many photos from the book on different sites and magazines. I will probably buy this soon, I love the photos and for anyone into India and it's history it'll probably be a good book for you too. The pictures are taken by british photographers and it's a mix of portaits and scenery. I believe this book is based on a show at The Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, a part of the Smithsonian Institution.

A visual reference of museum quality for researchers, or just people interested in this country.

This book accompanies an exhibition of photography collection of India for the period 1840-1911. These images are produced more than hundred years ago, during the early ages after photography was invented. Indian and foreigner found photography as magic, when using their camera to capture the surrounding environment to image. It covers powerful images about landscapes, people, architecture, etc from India.

the collection of these rare pictures of the time of british raj in india is gorgeous. reading this book is like visiting a museum. brilliant job done

I cannot agree with the previous reviewers. The illustrations may be wonderful, but the text is vague and uninformative. There are some puzzling omissions. Dehjejia wrote a book some years ago on Orissan architecture, but there is only the briefest coverage of this topic (and she does not even list her book in the bibliography. Speaking of bibliography, there are so many important omissions that it would be difficult to list them all. For the general reader, or for use as anintroductory textbook, it would be better to use Craven's by now classic Concise History of Indian Art.

This is a significant improvement over Roy Craven's colonialist take on Indian art. This book is much more sensitive to the culture of India and its rich amalgamation of Vedic thought, the religion and philosophy of Buddhism, what we now term as Hinduism, and of course, later Islamic influence. Especially significant is the explanation of the narrative sculptural relief panels at Sanchi and Amaravati. Dehejia explains their rich narratives clearly - and what at first appears confusing becomes instead a rich tapestry of imagination. Her explanations also merge style with context; in effect, we understand these panels as they were understood at the time of their historical inception. She rightly de-emphasizes the dynastic and stylistically rigid categorizations that are so predominant in Western scholarship. A worthy and timely text. I highly recommend it.

Vidya's book is a delight not just for the scope and content of the written material and references, but also for visual pleasures it provides to the users. Indian art is nothing if not immensely varied and rich, and Vidya brings this to the fore. I was delighted to see the way the Madurai Meenakhsi temple was treated, to see its Gopurams teeming with mythological figures and dieties of all kinds : an apt symbol of the diversity and richness of this civilization and of life that it celebrates, for in many ways Indian art is like life : beautiful and confusing at the same time, a buzz of forms , shapes, and materials, all with their own rationale for existence and appeal. Vidya's book tries to a give a very good idea of this, from the earthy Khajuraho to the elegant Elephanta, from the ancient Indo-Greek Gandharan Buddhas to the naturalistic Nayaka. A book to please both scholars and lay readers alike.