Asceticism

Within the context of Indian religions, asceticism is a general term for various practices that involve intense self-denial and other spiritual training. Practitioners of asceticism—called ascetics—are spiritually called to voluntarily reject their families, their possessions, and most importantly, their places in the world. This practice calls for complete withdrawal from the secular world in order to embrace personal, spiritual experiences. These experiences may involve receiving the re

Places

Meenakshi Temple

This enormous temple complex dedicated to Shiva is the heart of the city of Madurai. The two main sanctums of the Meenakshi temple are dedicated to Shiva and Parvati, his consort. They are surrounded by a number of smaller shrines and halls. The overwhelming size of the temple complex and the visual imagery contained within allows it to compete with most other temples in terms of attracting devotees. The original temple was built between the 7th and 10th centuries CE and developed greatly u

Holidays

Dashara

Dashara is a ten-day festival that culminates with a large celebration on the final day. One of the widest-performed celebrations, Dashara is also known by various names throughout the Indian subcontinent. This holiday is also commonly known by the name Navratri—or nine nights—as it is seen as a ten-day festival with the addition of the day on which the ceremony culminates. This ceremony primarily celebrates the victory of the legendary hero Rama over the demon deity Ravana, but also sometime

Texts

Atharvaveda Samhita

The Atharvaveda Samhita is a collection of magical formulas. It contains a vast array magically oriented subjects such as spells for healing disease, invocations for curative herbs, and prayers to healing water or to fire. It also contains prayers, used chiefly at family festivals, for long life, deliverance from death, and protection from disease. Many of the spells are also benedictions, divided into prayers for daily life events (such as plowing, growing crops, practicing good business, and