Hindu Rites And Rituals: Origins And Meanings

I wanted a broad introduction to Hindu rituals, to understand why things are done a certain way and why Hindus believe what they believe. This book definitely helped.I completely disagree with the other reviewer (it seems like all they wanted out of it was to argue with Hindus), this book does a fantastic job of describing Hindu practices from the perspective of a Hindu. If you're looking for an academic Western perspective on Hinduism, this isn't the book for you. An academic approach to Hinduism is probably the absolute worst way to learn about it.In fact, I'd argue that to really understand Hinduism, you need to learn it from someone who actually practices it. This book will only get you so far, but coupled with actually attending a Hindu temple (Don't be afraid to visit one, they are very welcoming and you'll likely be fed too), you will be in a much better place to approach Hinduism. If your goal is to "convert" (a controversial topic so I've found) to being Hindu, this book will definitely help fill in some gaps that you might otherwise miss no matter how many times you go to a temple.I learned a lot from this book that I would have had trouble finding elsewhere, albeit if I was born into a Hindu family then maybe this stuff would have already been told to me. Coming from Western Occultism/Esotericism, it was really easy to get into this book and grasp what was being talked about. Perhaps that's what perturbs me about people wanting an "academic" approach because I most definitely would not go to a college textbook to learn about Magick, why would I go to one to learn about Hinduism?Not every Hindu is going to believe everything in this book, nor are they going to practice everything in it, but there is no harm in understanding what some people believe. I'd rather approach people's beliefs with respect than hostility, and this book gave me plenty of ways to do that.

Why should we follow the rites and rituals?Same queries arises in every today's generation mind and we have no one to answer. So few of them are answered. Curious to know more about Hinduism.

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This book has a TON of hitherto-unknown information on my part that I found very enjoyable to read. It's very strange that me, a grown man, having lived all of his life in India did not know this stuff, but better to fill the gaps in my knowledge late than never, I guess. The author always tries to give the scientific explanation for say, a particular ritual, but a lot of the times when I found myself exclaiming, "Oh come on!" in my head (say, when he says that spreading cow dung around a house is a good thing), another part of me wanted to know whether what he says is indeed, true (you can't just print this in a print book and sell it to people and get away with it, right?). I would be a complete FOOL if all the things mentioned, the ancient natural science of India, were, indeed, true, and a lifetime of being inundated with Western science had conditioned me to think that all of it, the culture in my backyard, was inferior! And that is striking - throughout the book, the author mentions scientists who corroborate what he's saying, but they are ALL Western - he seems unaware that there is science in India! (excepting one line where A.J.C.Bose is mentioned). At a time when India has landed on the South Pole of the moon, this is laughable (and needs to be corrected in future versions of the book). Also, I would prefer the use of "she" more in the book. Other than that, I would say buy it, especially if you have young children around the house. It'll clean up a lot of the questions you would have in your mind that haven't been cleared up possibly after decades of living in India.

My 13 year old liked it so much.