BookenDeX — Better Discovery eXperience
Cover of Temple To Love
Book details

Temple To Love

Architecture And Devotion In Seventeenth-Century Bengal (Contemporary Indian Studies)

by Pika Ghosh

Published 2005255 pagesISBN 978-0-2533-4487-8

"In the flux created by the Mughal conquest in the seventeenth century, Hindu landholders in eastern India began to build a spectacularly beautiful new style of brick temple, sheathed with terra cotta narrative plaques and in a form unlike that of temples built for a thousand years before. In Temple to Love, Pika Ghosh draws on extensive archaeological and ethnographic research as well as textual evidence to explore this innovation in the context of its times." "This original and richly illustrated study addresses important cultural issues central to understanding the roles of art and religion in the negotiation of power and the self-definition of communities. Including 82 high-quality black-and-white images of these rarely photographed structures, it will appeal to scholars, students, and all readers interested in Indian art and history."--Jacket.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Full BookenDeX details

What the reading experience may hold

A fuller profile for choosing with more confidence—not just another copy of the preview.

Themes to notice

Nonfiction

Use these as starting points rather than limits; the most memorable books often stretch beyond their catalog labels.

Content notes

No specific content concerns can be confirmed from the available English catalog information. Consult a publisher or reader-supplied guide when detailed warnings matter.

These notes are inferred from available catalog information and may not be complete. Check a publisher or reader-supplied guide if you need comprehensive warnings.

Reading experience

Balanced tone · Measured pace

A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.

Who it may suit

A good fit if…

Readers who want a thoughtful experience and enjoy noticing the connections beneath a book’s surface story.

At a glance

This book's DNA

A visual estimate based on this edition's categories, description, and length. Select a star to explore the signals.

ToneBalanced
LuminousDark

This signal is descriptive, not a rating. It helps compare the kind of reading experience this edition may offer.

No plot details

Spoiler-Free Emotional Arc

A broad estimate of the book’s emotional rhythm, shown without story events or outcomes.

Spoiler-free
12345
PeakRelative emotional intensity
Temple To LovePika Ghosh
Heightened3.9/5

This visualization is an interpretive estimate based on catalog description, categories, tone, pace, and content signals. It does not describe specific scenes.

Before you choose

A quick reading snapshot

Edition facts and catalog signals to help you decide whether this book fits what you want to read next.

Reading lengthA standard-length read255 pages in this edition
Publication eraModernFirst published or edition dated 2005
Primary categoryNonfictionExplore similar books below
ISBN-13
978-0-2533-4487-8
Language
English
Edition record
OL10228758M
BookenDeX editorial lens

A more thoughtful way into this book

This guide uses the edition details and category signals above to help you choose deliberately. It does not replace the author's work or a full review.

Good to know

A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.

Begin with its place in Nonfiction, then notice where the book resists that label.

Try this reading approach

Read for connection, not completion.

Mark one passage that sharpens the book's central concern and one that complicates it. That tension often reveals more than a quick summary.

Three questions to carry with you

  1. Whose perspective organizes the story, and whose perspective remains outside it?
  2. Which sources or lived experiences carry the author’s central argument?
  3. How does the book change the way you understand its larger subject?

Editorial framework by Wesley Bryan, BookenDeX Founder and Editor.