Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Volume Five

Knut A. Jacobsen (Editor-in-Chief), University of Bergen, and Helene Basu, University of Münster, Angelika Malinar, University of Zürich, Vasudha Narayanan, University of Florida (Associate Editors)Volume V of Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism covers religious symbols ranging from gemstones and mudras to sacred threads and vihanas. A section devoted to diaspora communities offers an up-to-date overview of main centers of Hinduism outside of South Asia, The topic of modern Hindu religious movements and teachers is examined in the comprehensive last section, with articles on the Art of Living Foundation, ISKCON, and the Theosophical Society as well as Gandhi, Vivekananda, and Anandamayi Ma, among many others.

'it is not an empty claim in the Preface that _the depth and breadth of information provided are unmatched by any reference work on Hinduism_(...) On the whole, the editors and the competent project team at Brill have coped admirably with the challenges, preparing an impressive list of entries, enlisting a competent team of (as many as 155) accomplished scholars, applying a uniform style to the encyclopedia, achieving consistency in the use of diacritics and weaving the diverse contributions into a coherent whole.' Jan Filipský, Oriental Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Oriental Archive 81 (2013) 'As a product of in-depth and critical scholarship, Brill's Encyclopedia of HInduism is unparalleled in its breadth, depth and reliability. As in every scholarly undertaking, especially an interdisciplinary one touching upon Indology, religious studies, history, anthropology, sociology, art history, and other academic disciplines, there is always ample scope for improvement and further research. But suffice it to say that, as of now, together with the last two substantial volumes already in print, the present compendium may be taken as a dernier cri in critical scholarship, a veritable jñānavāpi (well of knowledge) for future generations to replenish.' Jan Filipský, Czeck Academy of Sciences, Archiv Orientální , 84/3 (2016)