ABOUT THE BOOK

Kashi Banaras: Sacred and Profane investigates the sacred and profane in the religiosity of Brahmanical Banaras. Banaras is an ancient Indian city as discussed in Purana, Mahabharata and the Buddhist and Jain texts. The religiosity of Kashi Banaras on the bank of Ganges has attracted pilgrims from various parts of the world. Banaras is inhabited with extremely dense shrines, mainly Siva-lingas. The built environment of temples, the wells and Ghats along with its inhabitants are the cultural representation of the city. The focus of study is also on the institution of pilgrimage. The town temples, ghats and the pilgrimage circuits along with the profane and mundane activities of the people of Banaras point to the cultural role of ancient city Kashi in context of complexity of Indian civilization. Its multiple belief systems, its cultural patterns, spatial territories and archaeological discoveries are so enormous that despite the works of several scholars for centuries we still carve for knowledge about the magnificence of Banaras.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Professor Vijaya Laxmi Singh graduated in History Honours from prestigious Patna Women's College (Avila Convent), Patna and obtained her M.A. and M.Phil Degrees from University of Delhi and Ph.D from Jawahar Lal University, Delhi. Her five monographs are Ujjayini: A Numismatic and Epigraphic Study (1996), Mathura: The Settlement Pattern and Cultural Profile of an Early Historical City (2005), The Saga of First Urbanism in India: Harappan Civilization (2006),Portraying Cultures in Indian Subcontinent (2011) and Women and Gender in Ancient India (2014). She has received CICOPS scholarship in 2007 and has been conferred the status of CICOPS fellow in 2012 by University of Pavia, Italy. She has published many papers in national and international journals.