Download or read book The Hindu Monastery in South India written by Nalini Rao and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-09-21 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on both textual and archaeological evidence, this study offers an integrated approach to scholarly debates on monasteries and guru relics in South India between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries. This study analyzes the role of the guru in the development of Hindu monastic orders, from centers of education to institutions of traditional authority. Focusing on the complex socio-religious context of the whole-body icon, the author analyzes the relic as a nexus of contradictions surrounding sacredness and death.