Hindu Gods in an American Landscape

<p> In India Hindu images have been cast for millennia through the lost wax process and brought to life by priests--becoming not merely venerated icons but actual embodiments of gods. Second and third generation Hindu Americans have increasingly adopted a more worldly perspective toward religious objects viewing them as symbolic rather than actual presences of the deity.</p><p> The author traces the origins of this important shift and examines Western attitudes regarding sacred objects as well as the complex layering of traditional and modern Hindu attitudes in a globalized world.</p>