A handbook of Virasaivism ... With a foreword by R. D. Ranade. Edited by R. N. Nandi
Delhi, Varanasi, Patna (India): Motilal Banarsidass, [1979]. Second edition, revised; 8vo, pp. xliii, [1], 175, [1]; fine copy in a fine dust jacket. "The Viraśaiva, also called Lingayat, was an unorthodox Saivite sect which rose in north-western Karnataka about the close of the 12th century. The leadership of the sect was in the hands of a group of non-conformist brahmaņas and its following was made of large and powerful classes of traders and essential producers. The chief feature of the sect was its opposition to the traditional organization of brahmanical castes and the worship of idols in temples. "In the late 1920s, the subject was taken up for doctoral research by S. C. Nandimath, whose competent thesis from London University was published in 1942 under the title A Handbook of Virasaivism. The book was the first authoritative exposition of the sect based on exhaustive study of original Kannada and Sanskrit sources" (jacket blurb). Item #69990
Price: $45.00
