Abstract: The study investigates the field of haṭha yoga as it is described in the medieval Haṭhayogapradīpikā, a work on yoga composed in Sanskrit from the Nāth tradition. The study have then compared these practices, practitioners and the attitudes towards them, with interviews conducted in modern Varanasi, India. The focus in the assignment is the connection between haṭha yoga and tantric practices since tantra has been crucial in the forming of the early haṭha yoga and classical haṭha yoga, but slowly has been removed through different reformations such as under the Kashmir Śaivism.  The tantric practices, especially those associated with left hand tantra, became less progressive and were slowly absorbed in mainstream Hinduism under several reformations during the 9th-15th century.  Ideas about topics like austerities and alchemy were more and more replaced by conceptions of the subtle body and kuṇḍalinī and the practices became more symbolized and viewed as happening inside the practitioner’s body. Tantra was important in the framework of haṭha yoga but the philosophy and practitioners of haṭha yoga has like tantra been absorbed and mixed into different philosophies and forms of yoga practice.  The practitioners has gone from alchemists, ascetics and left hand tantrics to be absorbed into the wider community which is evident in modern Varanasi. None of the haṭha yoga practitioners interviewed were Nāths, ascetics or alchemists and combined their haṭha practice with not only tantric philosophy but many different philosophies from India.

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<p>What is it about India and Varanasi, this holy city on the bank of the Ganga that has made me return, again and again? It is definitely not the freezing cold temperatures during mid-winter, nor is it the dry heat at spring, or the wet and humid months of the monsoon. It also has nothing to do with the bottomless poverty – the beggars halfeaten by leprosy pushing what once was an arm through the open window of my cab. It is not the constant power failures, the dirt, the touts, the diarrhoea, or the souvenirs. What is it then? For ten years I’ve been asking myself this question without yet having come to know the answer. ‘Mother India’, I have realised, raises more questions than she provides answers, and it could simply be that it is this infinite roundabout of questions begging for answers that makes some of us return – over and over again.</p><p>India is a continent of paradoxes and contradictions – desperate poverty and immense wealth, purity and impurity, caste and class, heat and cold, monsoon and drought, mosques and temples, ahimsa and violence, secularism and fanaticism, sacred cows and holy men. Enigmatic customs and practices, raise an apparently never-ending line of questions with either no answers or a multitude of them.</p><p>In the pages to follow, I will try to shed light on one of the cultural and religious traditions that I find fascinating in this country of contrasts. What I have in mind is the practice of renunciation, a life-style adopted by men and women of all ages. These holy figures, dressed in saffron (some also in white, red or black), have left the material world behind in order to devote their thoughts and actions – their beings – to matters of a higher spiritual nature and, in this way, to prepare themselves to leave their bodies. They have left behind the world of domestic demands, obligations and dependency and entered what is often described as a state of peace (santi) and eternalhappiness.</p>

No description available.

What is it about India and Varanasi, this holy city on the bank of the Ganga that has made me return, again and again? It is definitely not the freezing cold temperatures during mid-winter, nor is it the dry heat at spring, or the wet and humid months of the monsoon. It also has nothing to do with the bottomless poverty – the beggars halfeaten by leprosy pushing what once was an arm through the open window of my cab. It is not the constant power failures, the dirt, the touts, the diarrhoea, or the souvenirs. What is it then? For ten years I’ve been asking myself this question without yet having come to know the answer. ‘Mother India’, I have realised, raises more questions than she provides answers, and it could simply be that it is this infinite roundabout of questions begging for answers that makes some of us return – over and over again. India is a continent of paradoxes and contradictions – desperate poverty and immense wealth, purity and impurity, caste and class, heat and cold, monsoon and drought, mosques and temples, ahimsa and violence, secularism and fanaticism, sacred cows and holy men. Enigmatic customs and practices, raise an apparently never-ending line of questions with either no answers or a multitude of them. In the pages to follow, I will try to shed light on one of the cultural and religious traditions that I find fascinating in this country of contrasts. What I have in mind is the practice of renunciation, a life-style adopted by men and women of all ages. These holy figures, dressed in saffron (some also in white, red or black), have left the material world behind in order to devote their thoughts and actions – their beings – to matters of a higher spiritual nature and, in this way, to prepare themselves to leave their bodies. They have left behind the world of domestic demands, obligations and dependency and entered what is often described as a state of peace (santi) and eternalhappiness.

No description available.

The heavily privatized and socially stratified schooling system in Uttar Pradesh, India offers low income children limited opportunities for social mobility via education. In that context, this thesis presents the results of interviews with low-income mothers in the city of Varanasi, gathering their perspectives on the relationship between their children’s current schooling and anticipated adult futures. The results indicate that these mothers see education as an essential investment in both their boys’ and girls’ ability to “stand on their own feet” as independent adults. Study participants dream of a life for their children, especially their daughters, which differs dramatically from their own, and pursue this dream through strategizing to secure the highest quality education possible within their means. Alongside their strong commitment to education, mothers are filled with uncertainty about the adult futures their children will face, especially given the current climate of economic, educational and social change in India.

The heavily privatized and socially stratified schooling system in Uttar Pradesh, India offers low income children limited opportunities for social mobility via education. In that context, this thesis presents the results of interviews with low-income mothers in the city of Varanasi, gathering their perspectives on the relationship between their children’s current schooling and anticipated adult futures. The results indicate that these mothers see education as an essential investment in both their boys’ and girls’ ability to “stand on their own feet” as independent adults. Study participants dream of a life for their children, especially their daughters, which differs dramatically from their own, and pursue this dream through strategizing to secure the highest quality education possible within their means. Alongside their strong commitment to education, mothers are filled with uncertainty about the adult futures their children will face, especially given the current climate of economic, educational and social change in India.

Christians are a small minority group in India. There are previous studies on the group, but mainly focused on regions where Christianity is well represented, like for example Tamil Nadu in South India. This study will focus on an uncharted Christian area. The city of Banaras in the Indian state Uttar Pradesh is one of the most prominent holy cities of Hinduism. But there are also Christian congregations. Some are more established, some are less. This study is an attempt to map the Christian population in Banaras and present material that could be used for future research. The material is analysed with theories of space, which reveals several spaces that are claimed by Christianity. The Christian community in Banaras is composed of many different congregations, showing different features of local particularities worthy of further studies. In the city, Protestant congregations are scattered in smaller fractions while the Catholic parish shows a more well-established organization. Looking closer at two Catholic churches, a case-study focus on ground-level local particularities of the Catholic Church in the city. Together with theories on Theology of religions and Indian religious practice the case study provides a glimpse of the local expression of Catholic church interior and practice. The results describe a church shaped by the general, Catholic organization, the history of Christianity and Catholicism in India, together with the local context, shapes a well-established parish in a predominantly Hindu city. Together with the wider overview on Christianity, the results provide an image of Christianity in Banaras that shows several interesting characteristics in spatial claims and establishment. This could be an addition to future research to an understanding of interreligious relations and minority religions on a local level in a world shaped by globalization.