 |
|||||
 |
|||||
Books centered around photographs run the danger of becoming just another coffee table book, or of being so focused on photographs that readers are left wondering what the book is really about. Stephen Huyler's "Meeting God: Elements of Hindu Devotion" clearly illustrates that this is not always true. His beautiful and perceptive photos deeply illustrate the experiences of India. He is able to capture unique moments of time in his photographs, inner feelings of religious commitment, the movement of a hand, or the twist of the body that convey a wide variety of meanings, the cloaked silence of early morning, the stillness of quiet reflection, and the raucous street noise of public processionals. If you have ever been to India, you will feel you have immediately returned. I found sensations of Indian smells, sounds, and air temperatures spontaneously rising within me as I looked at Huyler's photos. As intimate and beautiful as these pictures are, they are complemented by surrounding text that deepens the meaning of the pictures you are seeing The book is divided into nine sections. Each section looks at some facet of Hindu devotional ritual (puja). We are moved into a world that is as much about religious action as it is about religious faith. The ideals of a religious tradition that can seem exotic and strange to westerners become alive and meaningful in the prose and photographs of Mr. Huyler's book. Brilliantly, he tells us the stories of real people and real situations to illustrate the numerous permutations of Hindu devotion. The result is an intimate entre into these core Indian practices. Thoughtfully, the first four chapters, "Concepts of Religious Devotion," "Approaching God: Elements of Worship," "The Soul of Family: Worship in the Home," and "Honoring the Spirit of Community," create the context and provide the essential information for readers to get a clear grasp of Hindu devotion and worship. In the first two chapters we are introduced to the conceptual framework that underlies "puja," and then we are gracefully walked through the various elements of ritual practice. I was struck with how fundamental "puja" is to Hindu practice, and how integrated it is into the lives of practioners. Huyler then expands from this informational core, much like in concentric circles, to explications of how "puja" is practiced and experienced in individual homes and in the greater home of the village or community. We are given a comprehensive, thoughtful, and integrated picture of the function and practice of Hindu ritual devotion. I see the next four chapters as a comprehensive unit as well. These chapters, "Answered Prayers: The Evolution from Shrine to Temple," "Deities on Parade: Sacred Images in Procession," and "Embracing the Ephemeral: Transitory Images," all deal with sacred images in the large context of the community and an exploration of their sometimes transitory nature, an aspect of the tradition that is often confusing to westerners. I really enjoyed the chapter on the evolution from shrine to temple. Because of his long term experience in India, Mr. Huyler was able to document how a simple outdoor shrine, abundantly present through both rural and urban India, gradually transformed into a temple. While it is dangerous to make sweeping generalizations, one is tempted to see in this modern process an example of how many Hindu temples came to be in the past. The final two chapters, "Healing, Sacred Vows, and Possession," and "The Final Stages: Old Age and Renunciation," look at aspects of ritual devotion that have not been previously discussed in the book. The material on the relationship of ritual devotion to healing rituals and shrines as locations for healing is quite extraordinary. Making the comparison to the devotional/healing center at Lourdes, we see through photographs a child healed of cholera at the shrine of Parvati in the temple of Ochira. Huyler also captures the sublimely beautiful face of an ecstatic devotee possessed by the god Subramaniam. This ability to empathically capture elements of the numenous on film speak of the depth to Stephen Huyler's understanding of Hindu religiosity. He nicely ties together the end of the book with the last of the Hindu stages of life. We enter into the religious world of the old, at home or on the journey of a wandering mendicant. Although the vast majority of wandering sadhus are men, he allows us a small glimpse into the life of a female renunciant. Through the course of this book, we journey through the cycles of birth and death, home and community, that so deeply structures the lives of many Hindu men and women. Central to all these cycles is the practice of "puja." The exquisite photographs and text are supported by a current map of India, an ample glossary, and an expanded bibliography for further reading. I highly recommend this book for school libraries and for teachers interested in Hinduism or Indian history. When the book is released in paperback, it should become a staple for many courses. Stephen Huyler was a major contributor to the Freer and Sackler Gallery's Puja exhibit. We have reviewed these materials as well. For those interested in learning more about the notions of Divinity in India, please see our review of Diana Eck's Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India, by clicking below to return to Hinduism resources. review ©2000 Tom Collins and RSiSS Return to Hinduism resources |
