A one-volume guide to Hindu faith and culture, this title elucidates the history, philosophy and practice of one of the world's great religious traditions, emphasizing Hinduism's classical heritage and daily practice as well as contemporary approaches to Hindu scholarship.

Surprising Bedfellows: Hindus and Muslims in Medieval and Early Modern India argues that religious and cultural identities in medieval and early modern India were marked by fluid and constantly shifting relationships rather than by the binary model of opposition that is assumed in so much scholarship. Building on the pioneering work of scholars such as Cynthia Talbot and Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya, these chapters seek to understand identity perception through romances, historical documents, ballads and historical epics, inscriptions and even architecture. The chapters in this volume urge...