LibGuides: Humanities: World Religions, Comparative Mythology, and the Search for Meaning: Hinduism

Books in the Library

Hinduism
Call Number: 294.5 W246h
ISBN: 0816024472
Presents the history , customs, and beliefs of Hinduism, describing the mysteries and myths that sustained its growth over the centuries.
Yantras of Deities and Their Numerological Foundations
Call Number: OVR 294.5 BUN
ISBN: 8124601747
This book examines the range of trantric yantras along with its associated deity, specific purpose, predominant and secondary numbers, and mantra.
Mudras for Healing and Transformation
Call Number: 294.5165 LEP
ISBN: 9780974430348
Mudras are gestures of the hands, face, and body that promote physical health, psychological balance and spiritual awakening. Their use stems from the Indian Hindu spiritual tradition. The book contains two page descriptions of 108 hand gestures with instructions on how to perform each gesture, what its core qualities are, and what it is especially helpful for. Accompanying each mudra is a guided meditation. Appendices provide mudra sequences to support the chanting of common Sanskrit mantras.
The Sacred East
Call Number: OVR 299.5 LIT
ISBN: 0007680007
A guide to the major spiritual and philosophical traditions of Asia, from the Hindu beliefs of India to the Shinto religion of Japan.
World Religions
Call Number: 200 BOW
ISBN: 9780756617721
A comprehensive overview of the beliefs and practices of a variety of different world religions draws on religious artifacts, explanations of sacred texts, paintings, architecture, and other teachings to provide explanations of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and other faiths.

Websites on the Internet

Sanatan Society
The website of a particular school of Hinduism, providing comprehensive information on Hindu religion, culture, and lifestyle. You will find information on everything from vegetarian recipes, epic literature and poetry, religious festivals, yoga, and the gods and goddesses.

To navigate the site, use the menu at the top of the page:

- Under "Hinduism", click “all Hindu gods & goddesses”. The page for each deity will include some information on the deity's origin story and devotional practices. Near the bottom of most articles, you'll also find a link to a recording of that deity's mantra.
- Under "Art", click "yantra paintings". Yantras for some female deities are included in the Mahavidyas section. Ganesh's yantra is included under "Other".
- Under "Yoga & Meditation", click “free online mantras" for the text and audio of mantras associated with many of the deities.
Indian Heritage
Visit the "Hindu Gods / Gurus" page (linked from the Home page or from under the Worship tab). Most of Ms. Blue's assigned gods and goddesses are represented with a page providing the other names or forms, the mantra, and symbolism associated with the deity.

Hindu Deities

Library Resources Online

Britannica ImageQuest This link opens in a new window
rights-cleared images in all subjects.

Encyclopedia of Religion ebook
To the RIGHT of the publication information, use the search bar to search the full text of the e-book for your god or goddess. There are also some great general entries such as "Hindu Iconography” for background information.
Oxford Reference
Oxford Reference is a database of reference e-books, all published by Oxford University Press. It includes many ebooks relevant to this course, such as A Dictionary of Hinduism and the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World.

*Day students, please note*: The library's online resources require passwords for off-campus use. Please email the librarians for the login information.

*A note about spellings

Throughout these sources you will sometimes find different spellings of names. Sometimes the h's are left out, for example: Krsna vs. Krishna, Siva vs. Shiva. While searching the text of an ebook or looking through websites online, be aware that an alternate spelling of your deity's name might be used. Search using the possible variant spellings to make sure you find all relevant material on your deity.

Citing Sources

Noodletools
Use NoodleTools to cite your sources and create a list of works cited.
Purdue OWL: MLA Style Guide
An excellent guide to formatting papers and citing sources in proper MLA style. See the table of contents to the left of the page for many examples.