About the Book:

This book deals with the iconography of Hindu deities as presented in Sanskrit texts. It consists of two volumes in a single binding.

Volume one presents the 108 deity descriptions extracted from the sixteenth-century North Indian Mantramahodadhi by Mahidhara. Each entry includes the Sanskrit text in transliteration, a literal translation, a note on the distribution of the iconographic attributes and explanatory notes on the deities, taking into account similar descriptions found in other Sanskrit texts.

Volume two compares for the first time deity descriptions extracted from two earlier and closely related texts, the anonymous Prapancasara and Laksmanadesika's Saradatilaka (twelfth century). The Sanskrit text of the 78 deity descriptions extracted from the Prapancasara and the 101 descriptions from the Saradatilaka is presented with a literal translation and remarks on the iconography.

About the Author:

Gudrun Biihnemann is a Professor of Sanskrit and Indic Religions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.