The Archaeology of Hindu Ritual
The cover of the book, depicting a Vaisnava head from Bhitrī, Uttar Pradesh, now in the British Museum, London. Jacket designed by Alice Soloway.
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| Author | Michael D. Willis |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Hindu archaeology, Indian archaeology |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
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Publication date
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2009 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 375 |
| ISBN | |
The Archaeology of Hindu Ritual: Temples and the Establishment of the Gods is an archaeological study focusing in on the early development of Hinduism within the Gupta Empire between the 4th and 6th centuries CE. Written by the British archaeologist Michael D. Willis, curator of the South Asian and Himalayan collection at the British Museum, it was published by Cambridge University Press in 2009.
The first major archaeological study to deal with the origins of Hinduism, The Archaeology of Hindu Ritual takes an interdisciplinary approach to the subject, making use of epigraphy, iconology and ethnography. The first chapter, "The Archaeology and Politics of Time at Udayagiri", pays particular attention to the ritual site at the Udayagiri Caves in Madhya Pradesh. The second, "Establishment of the Gods", looks at the development of temples and puja in India.
Willis' book was positively reviewed in various peer reviewed academic journals, such as South Asian Studies and the Religious Studies Review, as well as in popular Indian newspaper The Hindu. Critics described it as a groundbreaking study and praised its use of a variety of different forms of evidence, but some argued that it neglected to properly discuss the relationship between Hindu ritual and the religious practices of Buddhist and Jainist communities in Gupta India.
Willis was born in Vancouver, Canada, and raised in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, before taking his B.A. degree at the University of Victoria where he studied with Siri Gunasinghe and Alan Gowans. Travelling to the University of Chicago, he studied with J. A. B. van Buitenen and Pramod Chandra, receiving his doctoral degree in 1988 after periods in India and Cyprus. He taught at SUNY New Paltz before joining the British Museum in 1994.
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