Hinduism: Beliefs & Practices— Jeaneane Fowler

Of all the basic books on Hinduism, this rather thin volume of 160 pages is the most balanced introduction to the religion. It is perhaps the best book for someone who has no prior knowledge of the religion, a stable stepping stone for the student of religious studies, and an eye-opener for the practicing Hindu. Fowler views Hinduism as it is - a way of life, an Indian phenomena - and covers all you need to know about Hinduism as concisely as possible.

Caste, Class and Power : Changing Patterns of Stratification in a Tanjore Village/Andre Beteille

Beteille shows how the forces of modernization had rendered some areas of village life caste-free, while others were still governed by considerations of caste. The locus of power had shifted from the caste structure to more differentiated institutions such as the Panchayats and political parties.

A Christian Response to the Hindu Philosophical Systems :by Nehemiah Nilakantha Sastri Goreh/compiled and introduced by K.P. Aleaz.

As a pioneer Christian apology written as early as 1862, this work previously titled differently such as Hindu Philosophical Systems : The approach the works to the Hindu philosophical systems was negative and it is not acceptable to Indian Christians any more.

Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Puranas/Swami Parmeshwaranand.

"This Encyclopaedic Dictionary of five volumes is comprehensive information of more than one thousand Puranic themes of all important aspects of the Puranas which play prominent role in Indian religio-cultural, social and philosophical tradition. "

Fruits of Worship : Practical Religion in Bengal/Ralph W. Nicholas

"The essays collected in this book are based on field research carried out over an extended period in several villages in the Bengali-speaking area of South Asia. The center of attention is the religious life of ordinary people in rural Bengal. They cover a broad spectrum, including the Bengali attachment to Goddesses, the religious treatment of the calamities that

befall poor people, and the analysis of myths, both historically and structurally.

The Essence of Yoga : Reflections on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali/Bernard Bouanchaud

"In this book, Bernard Bouanchaud combines his skillful mastery of Sanskrit and his direct contact with living yoga, as he has taught yoga in Paris for several decades. He transmits the knowledge he himself received from the eminent masters: Shri Krischnamacharya and his son T.K.V. Desikachar…to make this book , at once so personal and so faithful to an ancient tradition, truly new".