Cultural History from the Vayu Purana

The present book attempts to supplement the work of Pargiter on the Cultural plane. Pargiter was concerned with the dynastic records of the Puranic texts while this book aims to interpret “cultural history” from the Vayu Purana. The work is divided into ten chapters arranged systematically. The first five chapters contain facts of intellectual culture and the last five of material culture. The presentation of material has involved a great deal of translation and interpretation of the Puranic text. The work has two appendices and a critical introduction. Appendix A identifies the places and tribes. Appendix B describes the centres of pilgrimage. Introduction surveys the previous research on the Puranas, on the Vayu particularly. It discusses the antiquity of the Vayu, its value for the cultural history and the method followed in the present investigation. It also gives an outline of political history as found in the Vayu Purana. This book is valuable not only for Indian Culture, but also for a critical edition of Vayu, and consequently of other Purana material.

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