---
product_id: 103958871
title: "India: A Sacred Geography"
price: "$U886"
currency: UYU
in_stock: false
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.uy/products/103958871-india-a-sacred-geography
store_origin: UY
region: Uruguay
---

# India: A Sacred Geography

**Price:** $U886
**Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** India: A Sacred Geography
- **How much does it cost?** $U886 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Currently out of stock
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.uy](https://www.desertcart.uy/products/103958871-india-a-sacred-geography)

## Best For

- Customers looking for quality international products

## Why This Product

- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Description

In India: A Sacred Geography , renowned Harvard scholar Diana Eck offers an extraordinary spiritual journey through the pilgrimage places of the world's most religiously vibrant culture and reveals that it is, in fact, through these sacred pilgrimages that India’s very sense of nation has emerged. No matter where one goes in India, one will find a landscape in which mountains, rivers, forests, and villages are elaborately linked to the stories of the gods and heroes of Indian culture. Every place in this vast landscape has its story, and conversely, every story of Hindu myth and legend has its place. Likewise, these places are inextricably tied to one another—not simply in the past, but in the present—through the local, regional, and transregional practices of pilgrimage. India: A Sacred Geography tells the story of the pilgrim’s India. In these pages, Diana Eck takes the reader on an extraordinary spiritual journey through the living landscape of this fascinating country –its mountains, rivers, and seacoasts, its ancient and powerful temples and shrines. Seeking to fully understand the sacred places of pilgrimage from the ground up, with their stories, connections and layers of meaning, she acutely examines Hindu religious ideas and narratives and shows how they have been deeply inscribed in the land itself. Ultimately, Eck shows us that from these networks of pilgrimage places, India’s very sense of region and nation has emerged. This is the astonishing and fascinating picture of a land linked for centuries not by the power of kings and governments, but by the footsteps of pilgrims. India: A Sacred Geography offers a unique perspective on India, both as a complex religious culture and as a nation. Based on her extensive knowledge and her many decades of wide-ranging travel and research, Eck's piercing insights and a sweeping grasp of history ensure that this work will be in demand for many years to come.

Review: Informative, Enjoyable and Evocative! - The author approaches the subject with the perfect mixture of a scholar's detachment and a Truth-seeker's attachment, while traversing the length and breadth of India, to present the reader a panoptic views of the sacred sites - and their imageries - dotting the country. The result is a book that resonated with this reader for its theoretical conclusions as well as for its ability to vicariously convey the transcending emotions of devotees and the beauty of the places (eg in the Himalayas). For example, the narration of the arathi (devotional offering) at the PAdmanabhaswamy Temple, Kerala was very evocative. As was the deep connectivity established between the devotees of Krishna and his figurine at the havelis through the fascinating descriptions of costume changes and playful activities of the Lord. The book is thus filled with interesting - and quite often less well-known - details and facts,spanning a number of deities and shrines, all in one cogent narrative. The book provides an integrative way of looking at the facts and presents a holistic picture which helps the reader assimilate the spirituality of the region. Eck has "condensed" - to use her perspective-laden term - a veritable ocean of facts, lore and information,to present this succinct and eminently readable tome. This, in itself, is a huge feat. Moreover, that she has been, as indicated earlier, to imbue the text with the "bhakthi-ic" element is very praiseworthy. The detailed notes presented at the end is indicative of her extensive textual survey and is another trove of detailed information for the interested reader, over and above what is presented in the main section. Although occasionally repetitive, the repetition could also be construed as useful as it serves to refresh the facts before presenting the theory or conclusion; sometimes construction of sentences /concepts and use of certain words/jargon may render the ideas being conveyed somewhat difficult to follow for a non-anthropologist; however, on the whole, such instances are quite rare. To sum up, a very informative and enjoyable book.
Review: Professor Ecks Hinduism journey ends - But the truly effacacious pilgrimmage is one that combines the ritual journey with true faith, " the one who always bathes in earthly tirthas as well as the tirthas of the heart reaches the supreme goal." Diane Eck, 'India: A Sacred Geography. Two themes stand out in this outstanding scholarly study of 'India: A Sacred Geography', A) the pilgrim and B) What is India. This book approaches the landscape from the pilgrims' point of view: as mythology rooted in geography. Ms Eck travels to the sites of Shiva's many manifestations, picks up the pieces of the dismembered goddess, and visits the temples dedicated to Vishnu. In Braj, in north India, she relates immersive reconstructions of stories from Krishna's life which pilgrims re-enact. Finally, she traces the journey made by Ram as he travelled from Ayodhya in the north to Lanka (presumed to be present-day Sri Lanka) in the south, navigating the length of the country. Eck's book conclusively shows that India is shaped not by the modern notion of a nation-state, "but by the extensive and intricate interrelation of geography and mythology (around rivers, shores, mountains, forests) that has produced this vast landscape of tirthas". Pandit Nehru said this even more authoritatively in his historic address at AICC's Madurai session in October 1961: "India has, for ages past, been a country of pilgrimages. All over the country, you find these ancient places, from Badrinath, Kedarnath and Amarnath, high up in the snowy Himalayas down to Kanyakumari in the south. What has drawn our people from the south to the north and from the north to the south in these great pilgrimages? It is the feeling of one country and one culture." The Spirit of India is, in fact, the Idea of India. You cannot even begin to understand India without acknowledging, experiencing and comprehending its sacredness-that is, without becoming a pilgrim yourself. Whether you go to Girnar,Chisti's Dargah in Ajmer, or Kanyakumari, whether you bathe in the Holy Ganga or in the "tirthas of the heart" ,to reach the shores of after-life, is up to you. In closing, the idea of Indian sacredness is not some western concept grafted on to the subcontinent in a fit of mystical Orientalism: it is instead an idea central to India's mythological conception of itself, which "continues to anchor millions of people in the imagined landscape of their country". Hindu mythology consistently visualises India as a spiritually charged and "living landscape in which mountains, rivers, forests and villages are elaborately linked to the stories of the gods and heroes. The land bears traces of the gods and the footprints of the heroes. Every place has its story and, conversely, every story in the vast storehouse of myth and legend has its place ... In this mental map, geography is overlaid with layer upon layer of story." As Professor Eck writes in her conclusion: "The affirmation of the everywhere of the sacred - this is the peculiar genius of the theology given expression in the landscape of India."

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #1,207,431 in Kindle Store ( See Top 100 in Kindle Store ) #68 in History of Hinduism #151 in India History #219 in Hindu History |

## Images

![India: A Sacred Geography - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/912r7vL9aYL.jpg)

## Available Options

This product comes in different **Media Format** options.

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Informative, Enjoyable and Evocative!
*by S***S on December 2, 2014*

The author approaches the subject with the perfect mixture of a scholar's detachment and a Truth-seeker's attachment, while traversing the length and breadth of India, to present the reader a panoptic views of the sacred sites - and their imageries - dotting the country. The result is a book that resonated with this reader for its theoretical conclusions as well as for its ability to vicariously convey the transcending emotions of devotees and the beauty of the places (eg in the Himalayas). For example, the narration of the arathi (devotional offering) at the PAdmanabhaswamy Temple, Kerala was very evocative. As was the deep connectivity established between the devotees of Krishna and his figurine at the havelis through the fascinating descriptions of costume changes and playful activities of the Lord. The book is thus filled with interesting - and quite often less well-known - details and facts,spanning a number of deities and shrines, all in one cogent narrative. The book provides an integrative way of looking at the facts and presents a holistic picture which helps the reader assimilate the spirituality of the region. Eck has "condensed" - to use her perspective-laden term - a veritable ocean of facts, lore and information,to present this succinct and eminently readable tome. This, in itself, is a huge feat. Moreover, that she has been, as indicated earlier, to imbue the text with the "bhakthi-ic" element is very praiseworthy. The detailed notes presented at the end is indicative of her extensive textual survey and is another trove of detailed information for the interested reader, over and above what is presented in the main section. Although occasionally repetitive, the repetition could also be construed as useful as it serves to refresh the facts before presenting the theory or conclusion; sometimes construction of sentences /concepts and use of certain words/jargon may render the ideas being conveyed somewhat difficult to follow for a non-anthropologist; however, on the whole, such instances are quite rare. To sum up, a very informative and enjoyable book.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Professor Ecks Hinduism journey ends
*by R***U on November 3, 2014*

But the truly effacacious pilgrimmage is one that combines the ritual journey with true faith, " the one who always bathes in earthly tirthas as well as the tirthas of the heart reaches the supreme goal." Diane Eck, 'India: A Sacred Geography. Two themes stand out in this outstanding scholarly study of 'India: A Sacred Geography', A) the pilgrim and B) What is India. This book approaches the landscape from the pilgrims' point of view: as mythology rooted in geography. Ms Eck travels to the sites of Shiva's many manifestations, picks up the pieces of the dismembered goddess, and visits the temples dedicated to Vishnu. In Braj, in north India, she relates immersive reconstructions of stories from Krishna's life which pilgrims re-enact. Finally, she traces the journey made by Ram as he travelled from Ayodhya in the north to Lanka (presumed to be present-day Sri Lanka) in the south, navigating the length of the country. Eck's book conclusively shows that India is shaped not by the modern notion of a nation-state, "but by the extensive and intricate interrelation of geography and mythology (around rivers, shores, mountains, forests) that has produced this vast landscape of tirthas". Pandit Nehru said this even more authoritatively in his historic address at AICC's Madurai session in October 1961: "India has, for ages past, been a country of pilgrimages. All over the country, you find these ancient places, from Badrinath, Kedarnath and Amarnath, high up in the snowy Himalayas down to Kanyakumari in the south. What has drawn our people from the south to the north and from the north to the south in these great pilgrimages? It is the feeling of one country and one culture." The Spirit of India is, in fact, the Idea of India. You cannot even begin to understand India without acknowledging, experiencing and comprehending its sacredness-that is, without becoming a pilgrim yourself. Whether you go to Girnar,Chisti's Dargah in Ajmer, or Kanyakumari, whether you bathe in the Holy Ganga or in the "tirthas of the heart" ,to reach the shores of after-life, is up to you. In closing, the idea of Indian sacredness is not some western concept grafted on to the subcontinent in a fit of mystical Orientalism: it is instead an idea central to India's mythological conception of itself, which "continues to anchor millions of people in the imagined landscape of their country". Hindu mythology consistently visualises India as a spiritually charged and "living landscape in which mountains, rivers, forests and villages are elaborately linked to the stories of the gods and heroes. The land bears traces of the gods and the footprints of the heroes. Every place has its story and, conversely, every story in the vast storehouse of myth and legend has its place ... In this mental map, geography is overlaid with layer upon layer of story." As Professor Eck writes in her conclusion: "The affirmation of the everywhere of the sacred - this is the peculiar genius of the theology given expression in the landscape of India."

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A splendid book
*by C***T on August 8, 2012*

Diana Eck's latest book is in the line of her first, rightly celebrated, description of Kashi (Benares) as the "City of Light", but with twenty or thirty years of research added. Admittedly, this is not a book for beginners. It presupposes at least some basic knowledge of the Indian "Weltanschaung" : if you have no idea who Krishna, Rama or Shiva are, you are unlikely to be able to enjoy Diana Eck's superbly perceptive description of what she calls the sacred geography of India. She means by that the subtle connexion between the geographical landscape, the history of certain famous places - Ayodhya for instance - and the underlying religious visions of a sub-continent where ever year tens of millions of pilgrims travel to what we would call holy places. Diana Eck talks from experience: it is obvious from her descriptions that she has been there and the reader is thus treated to a superb mixture of impressive erudition with practical experience. Furthermore the author is very good at describing what she saw: her writing is clear and elegant, never repetitive, yet precise. The book is divided by divinities, so to speak: Shiva's pilgrimages and sacred lanscape, Vishnu, Devi, Krishna, Rama, etc. Diana Eck deals splendidly with the complexity - and the sheer volume - of information available. She is sometimes a little light footed where one would have expected less diplomacy: for example, the scandalous neglect of the Indian government(s) for their "sacred" rivers, most of which are sewers, totally poluted, filled with human and industrial waste, endangering the life of the worshippers who bathe in them is evoked several times, but one would have expected a stronger call for action. But these are minor deficiencies in an otherwise superb book. Anyone with an interest in India should read it and it is sure to remain THE reference on this subject for many years.

---

## Why Shop on Desertcart?

- 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016
- 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories
- 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price
- 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members)
- 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection
- ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews

**Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.uy/products/103958871-india-a-sacred-geography](https://www.desertcart.uy/products/103958871-india-a-sacred-geography)

---

*Product available on Desertcart Uruguay*
*Store origin: UY*
*Last updated: 2026-09-13*