Gods of Flesh, Gods of Stone : The Embodiment of Divinity in India

A biography of Henry Smith Pritchett, an American astronomer and educator who served as Superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey and as President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Preface A Note on Transliteration Contents Introduction 1. Creation of the Sacred Image: Apotheosis and Destruction in Hinduism 2. On This Holy Day In My Humble Way Aspects of Pūjā 3. Arcāvatāra: On Earth as He Is in Heaven 4. The Devotee and the Deity: Living a Personalistic Theology 5. Possession and Pottery: Serving the Divine in a South Indian Community 6. God‘s Forceful Call: Possession as a Divine Strategy 7. Founders, Swamis, and Devotees: Becoming Divine in North Karnataka 8. The Holy Man as the Abode of God in the Swaminarayanan Religion Conclusion Notes and References Contributors and Editors Glossary Bibliography