Krishna's Playground: Vrindavan in the 21st Century

by John Stratton Hawley

Overview

This is a book about a deeply beloved place—many call it the spiritual capital of India. Located at a dramatic bend in the River Yamuna, a hundred miles from the center of Delhi, Vrindavan is the spot where the god Krishna is believed to have spent his childhood and youth. For Hindus it has always stood for youth writ large—a realm of love and beauty that enables one to retreat from the weight and harshness of the world. Now, though, the world is gobbling up Vrindavan. Delhi’s megalopolitan sprawl inches closer day by day—half the town is a vast real-estate development—and the waters of the Yamuna are too polluted to drink or even bathe in. Temples now style themselves as theme parks, and the world’s tallest religious building is under construction in Krishna’s pastoral paradise. What happens when the Anthropocene Age makes everything virtual? What happens when heaven gets plowed under? Like our age as a whole, Vrindavan throbs with feisty energy, but is it the religious canary in our collective coal mine?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190991340
Publisher:	OUP India
Publication date:	11/30/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	16 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

John Stratton Hawley, Claire Tow Professor of Religion, Barnard College, Columbia University

John Stratton Hawley is Claire Tow Professor of Religion at Barnard College, Columbia University, US.

Table of Contents

List of FiguresAcknowledgmentsNote on the TextMap of Vrindavan1. Paradise - Lost? 2. The Battle of Keshi Ghat3. Mall of Vrindavan4. The Skyscraper Temple5. A Different Refuge for Women6. Being Shrivatsa7. The Sign of Our TimesNotesBibliographyIndexAbout the Author

Editorial Reviews

"Anyone interested in the evolution of modern Hinduism will find this volume to be as enjoyable as it is informative." — Richard Barz, International Journal of Hindu Studies

"[Hawley] shows that there are many more continuities between new and old Vrindavan than one might first assume." — John E. Cort, Denison University

From the Publisher