Outward Spirals: A Guide to Shaligram Stones! Now out from TLS Press!
12 years in the making and my guide to Shaligram interpretive traditions has finally been published! It’s available from TLS Press on all platforms where books are sold!…
Tag: Fieldwork in Nepal
“Outward Spirals: A Guide to Shaligrams” is Now Available for Pre-Order!
I am so incredibly pleased to announce that Outward Spirals: A Guide to Shaligram Stones is now available for pre-order! This book is the culmination of my ethnographic…
“Outward Spirals” is Almost Here!
The time is finally (FINALLY!) upon us! Outward Spirals, the guide to Shaligram interpretive traditions, will go on pre-order from TLS Press starting August 31st! As soon as…
Outward Spirals: A Guide to Shaligram Stones (Cover Reveal)
It’s taken over a decade of work to get here but Outward Spirals finally has a release date for October, 2024. When I met my first Shaligram on…
Outward Spirals: A Guide to Shaligram Interpretive Traditions (TLS Press, 2024)
I finally have some good news to share about the Shaligram interpretive guide that I know so many of you have been asking me about for the past…
“Shaligram Pilgrimage in the Nepal Himalayas” — Interview with Dr. Raj Balkaran
I’ve been hard at work recently with the new book on Shaligram interpretive tradition which is still on track to come out around the end of 2023. But,…
Great News! The “Guide to Shaligrams” Has a Publisher!
Wonderful announcement everyone!! My second manuscript, designed for a popular general audience, finally has a publisher! I can hardly believe it but the book will be coming out…
Shaligram Interpretive Practice (Secondary Markings)
One of the most complicated aspects of Shaligram interpretation, and the one that often takes the longest to learn, is reading the various small markings that indicate the…
Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art, and Belief (Book Review)
“Shaligram Pilgrimage in the Nepal Himalayas” has gotten a formal book review! LINK:
In the Presence of the Gods (Book Review)
Shaligram Pilgrimage in the Nepal Himalayas has been reviewed in Himal Mag! Check it out! https://www.himalmag.com/in-the-presence-of-the-gods-shaligram-pilgrimage-review-2021/
“Shaligrams as Kin”
My newest article, called “Cornerstones: Shaligrams as Kin” will be coming out from the Journal of Religion early next year. Here’s a preview: “The courtyard of Dinesh and…
It’s Book Release Day!
Firstly, a sincere thank you to everyone who has helped to make this work possible. It’s been years in the making. But today is the day, and “Shaligram…
“But What Is It Really?” – Notes on Science, Pseudoscience, and Religion in Fossil Folklores
“Yes, but what is it really?” The man pressed. “A fossil, or God?” Sitting in the domestic airport in Kathmandu, Nepal waiting on the day’s flights into the…
“Shaligram Pilgrimage in the Nepal Himalayas” – Pre-Order
My books just went up for library pre-order! I can’t believe I am finally looking at it!! LINK: https://www.aup.nl/en/book/9789463721721/shaligram-pilgrimage-in-the-nepal-himalayas
Getting a Fake Shaligram, Intentionally
So, I got a fake Shaligram. But don’t be indignant on my behalf, it was on purpose. One of the most pervasive fears many Shaligram devotees (or would-be…
Keshav Shaligram
I don’t think I have ever done the Keshav Shaligram yet for my occasional “Spotlight” series. So, let’s do that one today! Because there is much to say…
Happy New Year!
Tonight, I happily bring in 2020 with a Surya Shaligram! May the New Year bring light, joy, and illumination to the world. फूल खिलेंगे गुलशन में खूबसूरती नज़र…
Shaligram Interpretive Practices: The Vasudev Shaligram Example
One thing I love about Shaligram interpretive practices is how extensively narrative they are. As in, not only does each specific ammonite fossil invoke stories about the geological…
A Shaligram is Born – Part 2
This second part on the birth of Shaligrams is meant to briefly demonstrate the concrete links between the sacred contexts of Shaligram veneration and the actual practices devotees…
A Shaligram is Born – Part 1
Witnessing the appearance of a Shaligram stone within the Kali Gandaki river is to, quite literally, witness its birth. Formed in the womb of the mountains (the Himalayas)…
A Visit to the Damodar Kund
Recently, a friend and devotee I’ve been blessed to know for a while now was finally able to make his yatra (pilgrimage) to the Damodar Kund. For those…
Shaligram Paleontology
In honor of Cephalopod Week, I’ve put together a short discussion on the types of ammonites typically found in Shaligrams. So, here we go! The Nepal Himalayas contain…
Perspective: The Many Ways of Shaligram Darshan
Shaligram shrines are each as unique as the households that look after them. As I move into the planning stage for my second manuscript on Shaligram interpretive traditions,…
Reading Shaligrams
The book is nearly complete! It’s been a long road but I will be turning in the revised and completed manuscript to my publisher in just a few…