Incredible India : Traditions and Rituals

Contents: Preface. Editor's note. 1. Samskaras--then and now. 2. Vivaha--what God Hath joined. 3. The moment of birth, the years of growth. 4. Upanayana --ceremony of the sacred thread. 5. Sandhyavandana. 6. The other Ashramas. 7. Antim Samskaras--funerals rites. 8. Traditions. 9. Parallels in other religions. 10. Prayer.

"Jawaharlal Nehru saw 'culture' as the ability to understand the other person's point of view. So far as rituals and traditions go, such understanding should recall ages bygone, recapture memories preserved and comprehend practices handed down the generations. Why were certain rituals prescribed and practised, how traditions were born and nurtured, why do they not survive wholly today, if at all-- these are queries that are dealt with in this book.

The world has become a global village. However, our own villages where rituals and traditions originated and were initially practiced (and from where they were handed down) have withered or are withering away, if only from this perspective. Reassuringly though, interest is reviving even in our brethren living abroad as well as in our towns and cities; all of a sudden they seek their 'roots', and, more importantly, are frenetic in their wish that their own young ones get reconnected to their ancestors' land and its mores. This book may satisfy their curiosity." (jacket)