The years 200 BCE to 800 CE witnessed the development of various Hindu ideas, texts, practices, and institutions that are often said to be “classical.” Key topics explored in this volume on the classical age include the social authority of Brahmans; the emergence of yoga as an embodied religious practice; representations of caste in the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata; the formation of doctrinal identities among the schools of Indian philosophy; competing secular and theologically-driven discourses around governance and polity; the development of Hindu temple iconography; the proliferation of various theistic (devotional) sects and orders; as well as the robust diffusion of Hindu cultural texts, ideas, and practices outside of the subcontinent.

A Cultural History of Hinduism in the Classical Age is part of a six-volume set providing an authoritative survey of one of the world's oldest religious traditions in its social and cultural contexts, from ancient times to the present. Each volume includes essays on sources of authority; body and mind; social organization and everyday norms; identity, difference, and dialogue; power and politics; visual culture; lineages and emerging exemplars and movements; and global context.

The Cultural Histories Series titles are available as hardcover sets for libraries needing just one subject or preferring a tangible reference for their shelves or as part of a fully-searchable digital library. The digital product is available to institutions by annual subscription or on perpetual access via www.bloomsburyculturalhistory.com . Individual volumes for academics and researchers interested in specific historical periods are also available in print or digitally via www.bloomsburycollections.com .