"In this beautifully illustrated and carefully researched book, Chanchani offers an innovative breakthrough study of the religion, art, architecture, and culture of the northern Ganga River and central Himalayan area. . . . This study is as pleasurable to read as it is informative. The ideas Chanchani puts forth are provocative and will interest scholars, in various disciplines, who work on the region. Nonspecialists who are curious about the region will also appreciate this work."
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CHOICE
"[A]n indispensable resource."
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The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians
"[B]eautifully written, deeply engrossing, and insightfully interdisciplinary book."
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Journal of Asian Studies
"This delightful, well-illustrated study of Central Himalayan temple architecture and statuary marks a significant addition to the history of Uttarakhand."
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The Indian Economic and Social History Review
"The author’s holistic approach is particularly stimulating; he does not look at temples simply as archaeological monuments inserted into an often-blurry historical context, but as symptoms of larger phenomena that he investigates, combining geographical, ecological, literary, historical, political, social, epigraphical, religious, cultural, stylistic and architectural perspectives."
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Arts Asiatiques
"An essential text for art historians, central Himalayan scholars, or anyone interested in artifact-based research. It is carefully and incisively written, visually lush with over 100 images...and almost every chapter has a dedicated map focused on that chapter’s sites."
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Reading Religion