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academic resources for teaching and learning about hinduism

Understanding Our Religious World (Series)

HINDUISM: Understanding Our Religious World

There is an assortment of reasonably-priced, richly illustrated, engaging digital texts for the academic study of the major religious traditions on this site. These include: Hinduism, Buddhism, East Asian Religions, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The site contains many free resources (for students and instructors), as well as PowerPoint slides and useful materials for instructors. These are best suited for teaching more than one religion in a given semester. In a World Religions course, one might assign the Western and Eastern Religions texts, or utilize various combinations of individual books to best suit the course needs. These books have a robust appeal for their pedagogic effectiveness.

https://www.robinest.org/ebooks2.html

Review from The International Journal of Hindu Studies

Hillary P. Rodrigues, Hinduism: Understanding Our Religious World. eBook. Robinest, 2020. 122 pages.

The year 2020 presented a number of difficulties for all of us, as the global COVID-19 pandemic upended our typical patterns of working, shopping, socializing, parenting, and everything else that involved human contact. For those of us used to teaching in the classroom on a college campus, our patterns and expectations were also altered, to say the least. Most of us needed to adjust our sources, lectures, and teaching styles as we taught from home, uploading audio-visual lectures and/or streaming lectures to one of the many available platforms, in an attempt to engage students in new ways that were sometimes successful. Though we won’t use all of the new forms of technology and new teaching strategies we adopted during the pandemic, we have all acquired some hints and tips that we and our institutions might take with us even after the pandemic subsides.

Though produced slightly before the pandemic, the book under review represents a teaching tool that not only would have been helpful then, but will also be helpful in a more standard classroom setting moving forward. Produced specifically as a digital source (eBook), Hillary P. Rodrigues’s Hinduism provides a concise and visually appealing introduction to Hinduism, ideal for an introductory course.

Its first section on History begins with the Indus Valley Civilization and ends with a number of short sections on modern India, including the British Colonial Period, Global Hinduism (for example, ISKCON), and Hinduism in Popular Culture (for example, Bollywood). Its second section on Beliefs includes larger sections on Hindu Texts, Deities, and Temples. Its third section on Structure outlines the Four Classes, Religious Specialists, and Gender and Sexuality. And its fourth and final section, Practice, details Yoga, Pūjā, and a number of Hindu festivals (for example, Holī).

Just eighty pages in length, the succinctness of the core of this text cannot be overstated. Each subsection named above is brief: the section on British Rule, Reform, and Independence is summarized in just one page, while more complex sections are somewhat longer, with each deity (for example, Śiva) or each text (for example, the Rāmāyaṇa) given its own single page. Nearly every page of the book also contains illustrations: photos of the Taj Mahal and Victoria Memorial detail Mughal architecture (12), the ten avatāra of Viṣṇu depict Hindu deities (41–43), the Bṛhadīśvara and Mīnākṣī temples illustrate northern- and southern-style Hindu temples (47–48), and Holī and the Kumbha Melā illustrate Hindu festivals (77–78). The text also contains useful maps of the Indus Valley (5), the Mughal Empire (11), and religious sites in India (18) and charts of Cosmic Time (24), the Four Classes and the Four Stages and Goals of Life (53–54), and the Hindu calendar (76).

A ten-page section containing a Quick Review and eighteen Vocabulary Audio Files (pushing a button, a reader hears a native speaker of Indian languages properly pronounce words like “Mahābhārata” and “Bhagavad Gītā”) makes this text even more accessible to introductory students in the physical or virtual classroom. The text concludes with a thirty-page Reader of selected texts culled from traditional ancient, medieval, and modern sources (for example, Ṛg VedaDevī Māhātmya, and Gandhi’s autobiography), all of which had been referenced earlier in the text.

The concise nature of this book is also in part a product of its publication. As the opening notes state, “This eBook has adapted and modified the text used in a chapter of [Thomas A.] Robinson and [Hillary P.] Rodrigues, World Religions: a guide to the essentials, published by Baker Academic.” The content of that book has been apportioned out into a number of texts, equally accessible and equally inexpensive (each available for $8 on the Google Play digital app). The content of Hinduism is also contained nearly verbatim in Rodrigues’s Eastern Religions: Understanding Our Religious World, which also covers Buddhism and East Asian Religions (Confucianism, Daoism, and Shinto), and Hinduism’s Reader is also contained in full in the larger Eastern Religions Reader.

The introductory notes state that Robinson and Rodrigues designed and developed this book while “team-teaching a world religions course numbering 500 students a year,” providing a key to the better uses to which it might be put. Not intended for a full-semester course on Hinduism or South Asian religions, this book provides an excellent, approachable, and financially prudent option for a larger World Religions course written by an engaged and respected scholar with a keen eye towards the needs of today’s students.

Michael Baltutis

University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh

Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA

Hinduism – the eBook

This is a very reasonably priced digital version of the widely-used Introducing Hinduism, 2e (Routledge), described below. It contains weblinks, color images, pronunciation guides, research resources. It is especially effective for courses that are taught and received through remote, digital instruction, but has been widely used in live classroom settings as well. The reviews for Introducing Hinduism listed below also pertain to this volume. The many other books listed on this site include: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Tibetan Buddhism, Japanese Religion, Daoism, Islam, Christianity, and World Religions. These books are best suited for semester-long courses dedicated to a single religious tradition.

http://www.worldreligionsebooks.com/ecomm/store.php?crn=220&rn=429&action=show_detail

http://www.worldreligionsebooks.com/ecomm/store.php

Introducing Hinduism, 2e

It is an ideal sourcebook for those seeking a comprehensive overview of the Hindu tradition. This second edition includes substantial treatments of Tantra, South India, and women, as well as expanded discussions of yoga, Vedanta and contemporary configurations of Hinduism in the West. Its lively presentation features: case studies, photographs, and scenarios that invite the reader into the lived world of Hinduism; introductory summaries, key points, discussion questions, and recommended reading lists at the end of each chapter; narrative summaries of the great epics and other renowned Hindu myths and lucid explanations of complex Indian philosophical teachings, including Sankhya and Kashmir Saivism; and a glossary, timeline, and pronunciation guide for an enhanced learning experience. This volume is an invaluable resource for students in need of an introduction to the key tenets and diverse practice of Hinduism, past and present.

The digital version listed above is also effective and easy to access for instructors and students.

Reviews

“In this new edition Rodrigues extends his comprehensive approach to Hinduism’s long history and complex network of sacred stories, ritual practices, and philosophical thought that he constructed in the first edition. This new edition weaves case studies of communities, leaders, and perspectives that take the reader closer into the lived realities of Hindu life. For students and readers who want to know where to begin in their understanding of Hinduism, this is the book.” Paul B. Courtright, Emory University, USA

“This edition will provide a comprehensive and useful introduction, starting point, and reference to the Hindu tradition… . It is extremely well suited for the classroom.” Sushil Mittal, Professor of Hindu Studies, James Madison University, USA

“Introducing Hinduism is, quite simply, the best book of its kind. An instructor can, by being selective, use it quite effectively as an introductory text, but it has enough depth that it can be a springboard for more advanced examination of primary texts or anthropological case studies. It is comprehensive, thorough and engaging enough for the general reader to get an excellent grounding in the dauntingly complex web of Hindu traditions.” David McMahan, Franklin and Marshall College, USA

https://www.routledge.com/Introducing-Hinduism/Rodrigues/p/book/9780415549660

An Introduction to Hinduism

This book provides a much-needed thematic and historical introduction to Hinduism, the religion of the majority of people in India. Dr. Flood traces the development of Hindu traditions from ancient origins and the major deities to the modern world. Hinduism as both a global religion and a form of nationalism are discussed. Emphasis is given to the tantric traditions, which have been so influential; to Hindu ritual, more fundamental than belief or doctrine; and to Dravidian influences. It introduces some debates within contemporary scholarship.

Academically solid and once widely used, this book is in need of a new edition.

https://www.cambridge.org/ca/academic/subjects/religion/buddhism-and-eastern-religions/introduction-hinduism?format=PB&isbn=9780521438780

Studying Hinduism in Practice

Drawing on personal experiences of Hinduism on the ground, this book provides a reflective context within which religious practices can be understood and appreciated. It conveys the rich realities of the Hindu tradition and the academic approaches through which they are studied. The chapters cover a wide range of topics, including dance, music, performance, festival traditions, temples, myth, philosophy, women’s practices, and divine possession. The engaging narratives are accompanied by contextual discussions and advice on such topics as conducting fieldwork, colonialism, Hindu seasonal celebrations, understanding deities, and aesthetics in Hinduism. All the entries are accompanied by photographs and suggestions for further reading.

This is an excellent complement to any of the aforementioned textbooks on Hinduism, and best utilized in a semester-long course.

https://www.routledge.com/Studying-Hinduism-in-Practice/Rodrigues/p/book/9780415468480

The Life of Hinduism

The Life of Hinduism brings together a series of essays—many recognized as classics in the field—that present Hinduism as a vibrant, truly “lived” religion. Celebrating the diversity for which Hinduism is known, this volume begins its journey in the “new India” of Bangalore, India’s Silicon Valley, where global connections and local traditions rub shoulders daily. Readers are then offered a glimpse into the multifaceted world of Hindu worship, life-cycle rites, festivals, performances, gurus, and castes. The book’s final sections deal with the Hinduism that is emerging in diasporic North America and with issues of identity that face Hindus in India and around the world: militancy versus tolerance and the struggle between owning one’s own religion and sharing it with others.

This is an excellent complement to any of the aforementioned textbooks on Hinduism, and best utilized in a semester-long course.

https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520249141/the-life-of-hinduism

The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India

Popular Hinduism is shaped, above all, by worship of a multitude of powerful divine beings — a superabundance indicated by the proverbial total of 330 million gods and goddesses. The fluid relationship between these beings and humans is a central theme of this rich and accessible study of popular Hinduism in the context of the society of contemporary India. Lucidly organized and skillfully written, The Camphor Flame brings clarity to an immensely complicated subject. C. J. Fuller combines ethnographic case studies with comparative anthropological analysis and draws on textual and historical scholarship as well. The book’s new afterword brings the study up-to-date by examining the relationship between popular Hinduism and contemporary Hindu nationalism.

Especially effective for anthropologically oriented approaches to the teaching of Hinduism.

https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691120485/the-camphor-flame

Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction

Hinduism is practised by nearly eighty per cent of India’s population, and by some seventy million people outside India. In this Very Short Introduction, Kim Knott offers a succinct and authoritative overview of this major religion, and analyses the challenges facing it in the twenty-first century. She discusses key preoccupations of Hinduism such as the centrality of the Veda as religious texts, the role of Brahmins, gurus, and storytellers in the transmission of divine truths, and the cultural and moral importance of epics such as the Ramayana.

As part of the Very Short Introductions series, these is a slim volume (160 pages), best suited if used in tandem with other materials for semester-long courses.

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/hinduism-a-very-short-introduction-9780198745549?cc=ca&lang=en&#

Kailasanatha Temple in Kanchipuram

Kailasanatha Temple in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, from the inner courtyard.

Kanchipuram is one of the holiest and most sacred cities in India (Jayapal & Amiratham 239). It is branded for being a temple city, home to the Kailasanatha temple, Vailkunta Perumal temple, Varadharaja temple, Kamakshi Amman temple and many others (Jayapal & Amirtham 242). During the 3rd to 9th century C.E., the Pallava Dynasty ruled South India from Kanchipuram, during which king Rajasimha built the Kailasanatha temple (Rao ed al. 594). Hinduism in South India was developed by the Pallava dynasty by building temples to worship the gods and devote to the gods (Rao et al. 595). Kailasantha temple is dedicated to Lord Siva, which honours Siva’s mountain home, Mount Kailasa (Dehejia 200). The temple is known for its Dravidian style architecture, the design mainly used for temples across South India. Most temples in the south are dedicated to specific deities and Rajasimha’s admiration for Siva was what led Kailasantha temple to be a Siva devoted temple.

In India, dynasties frequently changed, each one was conquered by another. Thus, over time, when new rulers would come into power they would build temples, monuments, caves, etc. that reflected their own political power and authority (Jayapal & Amirtham 240). The Kailasanatha temple was built during the time of The Pallava dynasty, more specifically when king Rajasimha was in power and used the Shore Temple in Mahabalipuram as inspiration. Kailasantha temple is known for its stone foundation and sandstone framework. A major influence on the design of the temple was based upon “dimensions of the heavenly land – lord of the cosmic mountain” (Jayapal & Amirtham 242). Therefore, the Kailasanatha temple is considered to be one of the oldest temples that exist today amongst the many temples in Kanchipuram.

Dravidian style architecture/temples are very distinctive from Northern India. The shapely design of the sikhara or ‘peak’ differ between the two architectural structures. The sikhara of southern (Dravida) temples/architecture is that you can discriminate between all of the arising horizontal levels whereas in northern (Nagara) temples/architecture they are typically masked (Dehejia 207). The outside walls of Nagara temples typically feature many female figurines, couples, and/or erotic imagery compared to Dravida temples which emphasize the importance of deities and may mention kings, saints, and legendary devotees (Dehejia 207). Before stone carving was introduced, most temples were built using deteriorating brick, lime, wood, and metal materials (Jayapal & Amirtham 240). The stone-carving technique in the South compared to western India was not a well-established technique therefore less familiar. A rationale for why stone may have taken its time before being embedded into their structures is “because the South had first to disassociate it from the funerary connotations acquired in an area where ancient megalithic tomb cultures had once prevailed” (Dehejia 185).

Courtyard and rectangular walled structure surrounding Kailasanatha temple (Kanchipuram).

Before the Pallavas were known for their Dravidian style architecture and their greater influence on stone-carving in the South, there were the Chalukyas.  The Chalukyas mimicked their rock-cut temples to the stone mountains of Siva and Visnu, such as, Kailasa or Vaikuntha [celestial abode of Visnu], where the rock forms the temple’s foundation and peak or sikhara, similar to that of the Kailasantha design. The earliest of the stone temples in South India are considered to be constructed by the Early Western Chalukyas (Tartakov 39) and the edifices of Early Western Chalukyas are also considered to be some of the earliest forms of Dravidian style architecture (Tartakov 95). The third successor of the Pallavas, King Mahendravarman, was the first Pallava to experiment with the rock-cutting technique, going on to cut his first cave and several others thereafter (Dehejia 185). Some scholars think that the style that was established by the Pallavas may have been taken in by the Chalukyas during the reign of Vikramaditya II. Other scholars that believe Chalukyas established the Southern style and then the Pallavas adopted it (Tartakov 96). One scholar’s point of view is that the octagonal, rectangular, and apsidal sikharas in the South were created by the Pallavas, but the square dome variation was built by the Chalukyas (Tartakov 97). Some characteristics that set the Pallavas art/architecture from the Dravidian style of the Chalukyas is that there is no figurative imagery in ceiling panels, the doorways do not use prastara hara, or entablature garland, nor do they incorporate the use of lalata bimba or block in lintel’s center  [this is to just name a couple of the important stylistic characteristics of the two dynasties, there are more features that set them apart to help distinguish between the two Dravidian style imagery] (Tartakov 98).

The Kailasanatha temple is oriented from east-west, is held together within a rectangular enclosure wall and contains a sandstone shrine. The pyramidal scheme, or sikhara, shows us the development of it from the Dharmaraja ratha and the distinctive feature of Southern temples (Dehejia 200). Upon entering, there is a “compact, barrel-vaulted, rectangular shrine built by Rajasimha’s son, Mahendra,” once you walk past the entrance there are “eight miniature shrines,” and near the front of the temple is sculpture of “Siva’s bull seated within, facing the Lord” (Dehejia 200-202). The miniature shrines that cover the courtyard walls are further broken down into east and west walls and north and south walls. The east and west walls contain images of Somaskanda, an image of Siva with his consort and son Skanda; the north and south contain interior images including Siva’s family group or Uma on her own, and “a shallow niche on their façades to accommodate further images” (Dehejia 202).  The images are placed strategically where the south facing wall entails images of Siva as a destructive force and the north wall shows Siva in his benevolent form. Another feature of the temple is in the courtyard shrine along the bases, there are over 250 titles, or birudas, for Rajasimha, which are written four times on four separate levels of the building using various script styles (northern, southern and florid) (Dehejia 202). These birudas are meant to reveal the characteristics of how a model ruler should act when in political power. The titles or birudas at Kailasanatha temple written to celebrate Rajasimha. A few examples of the titles are, “He is the Ocean of Arts or Kala-samudra; Storehouse of Arts or Kala-nidhi; Sole Hero or Ekavira; Victor in Battle or Rana-jaya; Unconquered or Aparajita; Devastating in Battle or Atiranachanda; He who Showers Gifts or Dana-varsa” (Dehejia 202).

Detail of a temple relief depicting the god Siva in his mythic exploit as Gangadhara, entrapping the goddess Ganga in a strand of his matted locks (Kailasanatha temple, Kanchipuram)

Kailasanatha temple is known for its sole dedication to Lord Siva. The temple contains a main shrine, which is home to an eight-foot-tall Siva linga, and seven connected sub-shrines, which surround the outside of the main shrine. The main shrine contains important images of Siva, some of which are ten feet tall. One of these images shows a dancing Siva in the form of a beggar, who ended up slaying demons and was given the Ganges (Dehejia 200). The temple houses a few figures of Siva including Siva seen “defeating death (Kalarimurti),” “Siva as the Supreme Teacher (Daksinamurti),” and another one where he is seen “riding into battle (Tripurantakamurti)” (Padma 51-53). Inside the towered shrine, or vimana, the linga is placed in the centre along with other temples across South Asia that are dedicated to Siva (Padma 50,53). Alternatively, Padma (2005) suggests that the Kailasanatha temple is an adjoined temple dedicated to Siva and a goddess. It consists of the Kailasanatha vimana or “towered shrine” which is dedicated to Siva and the Kailasanatha prakara “rectangular precinct wall” which is dedicated to a goddess. While sexual imagery is not ideal amidst Dravidian architecture, it is argued that “sexual metaphor is one of the many layers of meaning in the forms of the Kailasanath temple complex” (Padma 54). Padma describes the prakara as a goddess temple, comparable to a yogini temple where “it embraces a symbol of Siva in its courtyard as the yoni or vagina embraces the linga or phallus in heterosexual intercourse” (54). Although, the endless number of images and figures of Siva across the temple allow for scholars to agree with the popular thought, that the Kailasanatha temple is solely dedicated to the deity.

The importance of Kailasantha temple is that it is considered to be a personal chapel of King Rajasimha. He was able to devote his time into constructing temples because there was little of conflict during his reign. Its stone structure has allowed it to withstand centuries, with some corroding due to environmental factors, thus making it a significant structure to preserve. The design of the Kailasantha temple was a setting stone for the development and evolution of the Dravidian style architecture which may have influenced many temples that were built there after in South India. In Dehejia (1997), it is stated, “We can see the unmanifest in the linga and the manifest in the anthropomorphic images both in the sub-shrines and in the many aedicules along the temple walls” (200). This tells us that even though Siva is worshipped and seen as a phallic object, the figures/images of Siva gives us a thought or feeling to hold on to.

References

 Dehejia, Vidya (1997) Indian Art. New York: Phaidon Press Limited.

Jayapal, Deepalashmi & Amirtham, Lily Rose (2016) “Conserve, Preserve, and Rejuvenate  Architectural aspects of Kanchipuram.” Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 225:239-246. Accessed October 25, 2018.

Kaimal, Padma (2005) “Learning to See the Goddess Once Again: Male and Female in Balance at the Kailāsanātha Temple in Kāñcīpuram.” Journal of American Academy of Religion 73(1):45-87. Accessed October 9, 2018.

Ed. Rao, K.L.S. & Ed. Kapoor, Kapil (2013) Encyclopedia of Hinduism. San Rafael: Mandala Publishing.

Tartakov, Gary Michael (1980) “The Beginning of Dravidian Temple Architecture in Stone.”  Artibus Asiae 42(1):39-99. Accessed on October 9, 2018. doi:10.2307/3250008.

 

Related Topics for Further Investigation

 Siva

linga

Mount Kailasa

Maha Shivratri

Pallava Dynasty

Shore Temple Mahabalipuram

History of Kanchipuram

yoginis

Nagara Temple

The biruda

 

Noteworthy Websites Related to the Topic

https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-asia/countless-devotees-are-drawn-it-what-makes-kanchi-kailasanathar-temple-so-021259

http://www.transindiatravels.com/tamil-nadu/kanchipuram/kailasanathar-temple/

http://www.kancheepuramonline.in/city-guide/kailasanathar-temple

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanchi_Kailasanathar_Temple

 

Article written by: Manvir Jadir (November 2018) who is solely responsible for its content.

The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy): Review

In looking at the myriad of different elements and themes within Arundhati Roy’s God of Small Things, it is clear to see that she has created a well-developed novel that addresses the multiple religions, political beliefs, and the caste system in contemporary India. She presents a narrative that is rife with external and internal conflict, from differences in fundamental beliefs to traumatic experiences that plague the lives of her characters. These experiences ultimately dictate the trajectory of the novel and its final resolution, providing the reader with a deeper understanding of love, loss, fear, and suffering.

The novel follows the lives of fraternal twins, Rahel and Estha in Ayemenem, a town in Kerala, India. The story opens immediately with references to past events that played a key role in determining the future lives of Roy’s characters. The tale is not told in chronological order, but discloses to the reader in an out of order system the major events that impacted the understanding of the two young twins as they navigate their way through their loss of innocence. There is reference to the death of the twin’s young cousin, Sophie Mol, and to a traumatic event involving Estha and a movie theatre concession worker. These two events ultimately determine where the twins find themselves as adults when they finally reunite after many years of separation.

From a young age, the twins are exposed to a melding of religion and political beliefs. Their own great aunt, Baby Kochamma converted at a young age to Roman Catholicism; love and lust were the cause behind this conversion as she found herself pining after an Irish Catholic priest. This conversion was not well received by Baby Kochamma’s father, the twins’ grandfather, and after learning that her conversion was fruitless in the effort to secure the love of Father Mulligan, Baby Kochamma returned home and remained a bitterly unfulfilled woman. Her role throughout the novel is an influential one as she is the cause of much heartache in the lives of the twins and their mother.  To further the example of the conflict between religions and beliefs, Baby Kochamma makes disparaging comments about Hindus and is vocal about her opinion of the twins’ being half-Hindu. She seems to hold it against them, and there are multiple instances where she openly discriminates against the Hindu people that she and the twins encounter throughout the novel.

Besides the discrimination and conflict between Hinduism and Syrian-Christianity, there is also the great movement of Communism occurring through India at the time, which plays a role in the experiences and understanding of young Rahel. One such instance where Communism impacts Rahel’s personal experience is seen on the car ride to the airport where the family is headed to receive Sophie Mol. There is a communist gathering and march occurring on the streets around them, and at one point the communists open the car door and force Baby Kochamma to wave their communist flag, ultimately humiliating her. Amongst the crowd, Rahel sees Velutha, the twin’s friend and their mother’s secret lover. Here, the reader is exposed to one of the first depictions of the disparity within the social caste in India. Velutha is known as a Paravan, one of the Untouchables, and beneath the lowest level of the caste system. He works for Rahel and Estha’s family and is later wrongly accused of bringing about the death of Sophie Mol. This accusation is led and perpetuated by Baby Kochamma, who openly discriminates against Velutha for his low social status and his role as a communist. Through Baby Kochamma’s actions, Roy is successful in highlighting the regimented beliefs and feelings that the higher castes demonstrated towards India’s Untouchables and other active political parties.

Another example of inequality that impacts the characters’ lives is seen in the treatment of women, who are directly discriminated against and oppressed by the society in which they exist. It is referenced at several points throughout the book that women are sexually victimized by the men in their lives, even by men in authoritative roles such as police officers and doctors. Roy educates the reader on the experiences of women in India and the unjust circumstances of abuse to which far too many females are subjected. There are also additional elements of discrimination against women that Roy highlights in her writing, such as the embarrassment communicated by Estha’s father and stepmother as they watch their son express an enjoyment for housekeeping, a role seen as acceptable only for a woman. As well, Roy deals with deeper issues of contradiction surrounding the female body as it is seen that men will sexualize and objectify the feminine form, yet women are simultaneously taught to reject the development or curiosity of their own body. This is most notable in the depiction of Rahel’s time in school where she learnt that “Breasts were not acknowledged. They weren’t supposed to exist” (Roy, 18).  Through these examples, Roy effectively creates a powerful depiction of the confusing and unjust role that women are forced to conform to throughout the novel.

Roy also makes reference to other cultural influences, such as the continual mention of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Conrad’s novel deals with multiple layers of imperialism and racism, a connection that can be drawn to India’s own experience of colonization by Britain. This reference to Conrad’s work provides another level to understanding the experiences of the novel’s characters, and the extent to which Britain continuously influenced India and its people, regardless of any differences in religion or social backgrounds.

Through these various portrayals of religion, politics, gender, and India’s caste system, Roy manages to contribute to a deeper understanding of the history and evolution of India’s multiple beliefs and perspectives. Her novel deals head-on with difficult and complicated social issues, and is a touching and educational work that is successful in bringing its characters to life through these traumatic hardships that showcase how the small things in life ultimately lead to colossal consequences and life-altering experiences.

Bibliography

Roy, Arundhati (1997) God of Small Things. Canada: Random House of Canada Ltd.

Further Readings

Wilkins, W.J (1975 reprinted) Modern Hinduism. Delhi: B.R. Publishing Corporation

Smith, David (2003) Hinduism and Modernity. New Jersey: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Conrad, Joseph (1999) Heart of Darkness. New York: Penguin Books