PDF The Rebirth of Latin American Christianity (Oxford Studies in World Christianity) by Todd Hartch in History

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James McHugh offers the first comprehensive examination of the concepts and practices related to smell in pre-modern India. Drawing on a wide range of textual sources; from poetry to medical texts; he shows the significant religious and cultural role of smell in India throughout the first millennium CE.McHugh describes the arts of perfumery developed in royal courts; temples; and monasteries; which were connected to a trade in exotic aromatics. Through their transformative nature; perfumes played an important part in every aspect of Indian life from seduction to diplomacy and religion. The aesthetics of smell dictated many of the materials; practices; and ceremonies associated with India's religious culture. McHugh shows how religious discourses on the purpose of life emphasized the pleasures of the senses; including olfactory experience; as valid ends in themselves. Fragrances and stenches were analogous to certain values; aesthetic or ethical; and in a system where karmic results often had a sensory impact-where evil literally stank-the ethical and aesthetic became difficult to distinguish. Through the study of smell; McHugh strengthens our understanding of the vital connection between the theological and the physical world.Sandalwood and Carrion explores smell in pre-modern India from many perspectives; covering such topics as philosophical accounts of smell perception; odors in literature; the history of perfumery in India; the significance of sandalwood in Buddhism; and the divine offering of perfume to the gods.