India Geography

Marco Polo (1254-1324), is probably the most famous Westerner who traveled on the "Silk Road." His journey through Asia lasted 24 years. He traveled the whole of China and returned to tell the tale, which became one of the world's greatest travelogues.

Before Europe claimed to discover the world, al-Biruni had already measured it. Long before the European Age of Discovery, long before Mercator’s maps, colonial Indology, modern anthropology, or the scientific study of comparative religion, a Persianate Muslim scholar from Central Asia was asking questions centuries ahead of his time. How large is the Earth? How can a civilization understand another without reducing it to rumor? How do calendars reveal the soul of a people? How can religion be compared without mockery? How can stones, metals, and minerals be studied through measurement ...

From the bestselling author of The Silk Roads comes an updated, timely, and visionary book about the dramatic and profound changes our world is undergoing right now—as seen from the perspective of the rising powers of the East. "All roads used to lead to Rome. Today they lead to Beijing."...

Travel to India. Find out the facts about this country in Asia.

This audiobook provides an alphabetical exploration of the people, geography, animals, history, and culture of India.

CHAR DHAM YATRA The Sacred Journey to India’s Four Great Dhams Across the vast and sacred landscape of India lie four extraordinary pilgrimage centres that have inspired generations of devotees, travellers, saints, and seekers. Badrinath, Dwarka, Jagannath Puri, and Rameswaram stand as four luminous pillars of India’s spiritual heritage—sacred destinations that invite the pilgrim not merely to travel, but to discover something deeper within. CHAR DHAM YATRA takes readers on an inspiring journey to these four great Dhams, exploring the stories, traditions, temples, rituals, festivals, ...

The Indus rises in Tibet, flows west across India, and south through Pakistan. For millennia it has been worshipped as a god; for centuries used as a tool of imperial expansion. Empires of the Indus follows the river upstream and back in time, taking the listener on a voyage through two thousand miles of geography and more than five thousand years of history redolent with contemporary importance.

Saptashrungi Devi – She Who Dwells Among the Seven Peaks: A Journey to the Half Shaktipeeth of Maharashtra and the Living Flame of Shakti is a richly layered spiritual and mythological exploration of one of India’s most revered and enigmatic goddess sites. Rooted in ancient tradition yet deeply relevant to the seeker of today, this book is both an evocative pilgrimage narrative and a meditation on the enduring presence of the Divine Feminine in the landscape of faith, culture, and personal transformation. At the heart of the book is Saptashrungi Devi, the goddess who resides amidst ...

From the poisoned rivers, barren wells, and clear-cut forests, to the hundreds of thousands of farmers who have committed suicide to escape punishing debt, to the hundreds of millions of people who live on less than two dollars a day, there are ghosts nearly everywhere you look in India. India is a nation of 1.2 billion, but the country's 100 richest people own assets equivalent to one-fourth of India’s gross domestic product.

Long before India had borders, it had kingdoms — realms whose names still echo through temple chants, folk memory, and two of the greatest epics ever told. Vanished Realms journey through twenty of these lost kingdoms, from the solar dynasty of Kosala and the golden citadel of Lanka to the fortress empire of Magadha and the sea-swallowed city of Dwaraka. Each chapter unearths the story tradition has preserved, the geography scholars and archaeologists have debated, and the living legacy — temples, festivals, and pilgrimage routes — that still marks these lands today. Drawing on the ...

Discover the seven sacred cities at the heart of India's spiritual geography. The Sapta Puri—Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar, Kashi, Kanchipuram, Ujjain and Dwaraka—have been revered for centuries as sacred centres associated with pilgrimage, devotion and the aspiration for Moksha. In this accessible guide, V B Darshan explores the spiritual identity, temples, sacred rivers, festivals, architecture and pilgrimage traditions of all seven cities. The book takes readers beyond individual temples to understand the larger sacred landscape of India. It explores the traditions of Rama, Krishna, ...

India is the place to find the stunning Taj Mahal and the world’s tallest peak, Mount Everest. Mount Everest rises nearly 5 miles into the sky! Children will learn all about India, a country known for mountains, curry, and the world’s second largest population.

Gerald of Wales, also called Giraldus Cambrensis or Gerald De Barri ( c. 1146-c. 1223), was the archdeacon of Brecknock and a historian whose accounts of late 12th century Britain and France contain vivid anecdotes about the Christian church, the universities of Paris and Oxford, and about notable clerics. His work, Topographia Hiberniae, is an arresting account of his travels in Ireland, with vivid descriptions of the island’s fauna and flora and its natural beauty.

Brought to you by Penguin. WINNER OF THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE 2020 From the award-winning author of The Great Sea, a magnificent new global history of the oceans and of humankind's relationship with the sea For most of human history, the seas and oceans have been the main means of long-distance...

Britain's foremost woman travel writer Sara Wheeler records her life of adventure, from the Antarctic to Zanzibar A Times Literary Supplement and Financial Times Book of the Year 'Funny, furious writing from the queen of intrepid travel' Daily Telegraph 'Intrepid and sparky, full of canny quips...

KAMAKHYA TEMPLE Mythology, Tantra, Shakti, History, and the Mystery of the Goddess On the sacred Nilachal Hill overlooking Guwahati stands one of India's most mysterious and revered temples—the Kamakhya Temple, a powerful center of Shakti worship and one of the most important Shakti Peethas. Unlike temples centered on a conventional image of a deity, Kamakhya is associated with a natural sacred form and the profound symbolism of the yoni, representing the generative power of the Divine Feminine. But what lies behind this extraordinary temple? What is the story of Sati and the origin of ...

In this story, a poor boy's dream of having a drum takes him on an unlikely path. He meets several people who guide him along the way. In time, he learns to make his own magic in this world. Illustrated by Tom Wrenn.

Welcome to India! See the sites. Enjoy the food. Hear the language. Discover this country's land, people, and traditions.

The New India is the unforgettable account of the struggle between modern forces and ancient ideas to shape the young country's destiny. It reveals a picture of a nation on the precipice of dramatic change. 'Remarkable... fascinating... brilliant' Guardian Based on six years of detailed research...

In a lively and uniquely comprehensive narrative of Kashmir’s past and current predicament, the book reinstates the cultural and political centrality of one of Asia’s most cherished but maligned states. What emerges in this landmark history is not the familiar tale of a paradise lost to...