The most recommended books on Hinduism

Who picked these books? Meet our 31 experts.

31 authors created a book list connected to Hinduism, and here are their favorite Hinduism books.
When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

What type of Hinduism book?

Loading...
Loading...

Book cover of The Essential Mystics

Alexandra DeSiato Author Of Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses: A Practical Workbook for Integrating Themes, Ideas, and Inspiration Into Your Class

From my list on yoga teachers who feel stuck in a rut.

Why am I passionate about this?

My passion for teaching yoga stems from over a decade as a yoga teacher. I’ve taught a variety of populations including college athletes, aging practitioners, and prenatal and postpartum moms and people. I’ve written two books on yoga; one is about how we can use yoga as we age healthily and the other is a helpful guide for yoga teachers who would like to incorporate philosophical theming in their classes. I know what it means to feel stuck in a rut as a yoga teacher, and I have so often counted on these well-loved books to help me find my way out of that rut and into inspired teaching. 

Alexandra's book list on yoga teachers who feel stuck in a rut

Alexandra DeSiato Why did Alexandra love this book?

Harvey chooses from a variety of faith traditions (including Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and Ancient Greek thought) to share mystical and spiritual passages from sacred texts. His approach is not to explain the meaning as he sees it, but to offer the selections for readers to immerse themselves in the beautiful, historical writings without too much direction. This book is a source of renewal for me. My copy is dog-eared and highlighted. There is writing in the margins and post-its on the pages. I find the words of the mystics, including Rumi, Buddha, and saints like Francis of Assisi as a balm to my weary soul. More than once, sections of this book have been read aloud in my yoga classes. 

By Andrew Harvey (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Essential Mystics as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the celebrated scholar and lecturer Andrew Harvey, a fascinating and inspiring introduction to the essential texts and themes of the great mystics.

Not merely a feast of the greatest and wisest mystical revelations, 'The Essential Mystics' i


Book cover of The Direct Path: Creating a Personal Journey to the Divine Using the World's Spiritual Traditions

Peter Occhiogrosso Author Of Circles of Belief: The World’s Spiritual Traditions and Beyond

From my list on spiritual path alternative to institutional religion.

Why am I passionate about this?

I feel strongly that large segments of the population—young and old alike—have thrown out the baby of spirituality with the bathwater of organized religion. Given the current level of interreligious hatred and misunderstanding in today’s world, two things have to change. First, we need to know the basics of the world’s major religious traditions and how they evolved so that we are not making value judgments based on erroneous information and lack of understanding. Then, we have to look through the external dogmas and rituals to the spiritual principles and experiences that are of most value and that may not be reliant on any one institutional religion. 

Peter's book list on spiritual path alternative to institutional religion

Peter Occhiogrosso Why did Peter love this book?

Born to British parents in India, Harvey was raised a Christian but has since extensively practiced and studied other traditions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sufism, and has written about them all in some depth. He now teaches what he calls “Sacred Activism,” describing it as “the union of a profound spiritual and mystical knowledge, understanding, and compassion, peace and energy, with focused, wise, radical action in the world.”

His teaching of the Direct Path draws on the spiritual practices of several religions to help create an individualized practice not reliant on any one of those established traditions. In this book, Harvey writes about the current era, describing it as extremely dangerous and creative. He believes that a new humanity is emerging through this period of agony and terror. This new humanity, he suggests, will be in direct and unmediated contact with the Divine, free from the divisiveness, body hatred, and…

By Andrew Harvey,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Direct Path as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Today more Americans than ever consider themselves to be "spiritual" people, and yet attendance at religious institutions is down, perhaps because many of us are searching for a way to encounter the divine on our own terms. In this groundbreaking, eloquently written work, renowned religious scholar Andrew Harvey builds on his twenty-five-year study of the world’s various mystical traditions, from Buddhism to the Kabbalah, to create an illuminating spiritual map that anyone can use to develop a direct path to the divine without relying on churches, gurus, or other intermediaries. Perfect for anyone who yearns for fresh teachings and wisdom…


Book cover of Hindu, Buddhist and Tantric Gods and Goddesses, Ritual Objects and Religious Symbols

Alan Mercel-Sanca Author Of Nepal - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

From my list on people learning about each other's cultures.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an intercultural educationalist, having many years of direct Prime Ministers, Culture Ministers, Ambassador of Nepal to the UK/Ireland/Malta, experts, and grassroots community organizations relationships with Nepal and Nepali diasporas (UK and Ireland) regarding research, reports, and major intercultural projects, as well as a published writer on Nepali culture and editor and lead content contributor for internationally respected online Nepal culture information resources (see Nepali Cultural Heritage and Foods of Nepal). An active member of the decolonization movement, I have provided live BBC TV News interviews on the UK Government–Gurkha dispute and led the enablement of a historically important Nepal–England football match. 

Alan's book list on people learning about each other's cultures

Alan Mercel-Sanca Why did Alan love this book?

In late 2013, during one of my many visits to Kathmandu as the lead of the UK Nepal Friendship Society, I was privileged to be engaged and presented with a copy of this just-published book.

For any non-South Asian person with a passion for learning about the esoteric and spiritual heritages of South Asia, this book is a true, precious treasure of the rarest and highest kind for students of those precious and vibrant heritages in which the spiritual concepts of profound ethical, personal self-development, and respect for the unique role in both of the latter regarding Nature in all her profound manifestations (including sexual love) and of global value and significance! 

By Trilok Chandra Majupuria,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Hindu, Buddhist and Tantric Gods and Goddesses, Ritual Objects and Religious Symbols as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

English 130 (Throughout B/W Illustrations)Why This Book?This book has been written for those who would like to know about gods and goddesses in Hinduism, Buddhism and Tantrism, in a nutshell. Tibetan deities as well as those associated with sutras (esoteric discourses) are also dealt with in detail. It would be of special interest to visitors who come to Nepal for a short visit. Since most of the sculptures, paintings are based on religious mythologies; therefore, basic facts about religions are also necessary.Authors have been interacting for 56 years with visitors of Nepal and giving them lectures mainly about religions and…


Book cover of The Mantram Handbook: A Practical Guide to Choosing Your Mantram and Calming Your Mind

Barbara Mariconda Author Of After the Diagnosis...A Guide for Living

From my list on transforming suffering.

Why am I passionate about this?

From darkness, light. From death, life. I believe this, passionately. When emptied by love, by suffering, by life, it’s possible to fill that space with something greater than ourselves – and that something is God. None of us gets through life without suffering. For me, it was growing up in an alcoholic home and later going through a divorce. The question is, will our suffering destroy us or transform us? Co-author Fr. Tom Lynch and I started Journey of the Soul Ministry to help others transform their suffering into an ability to live more freely and love more deeply. That’s what our book explores, as do my other recommendations.

Barbara's book list on transforming suffering

Barbara Mariconda Why did Barbara love this book?

Feel bullied by thoughts, emotions, anxieties? Find yourself wallowing in past regrets or resentments, or projecting into a foreboding future? Eknath Easwaran shows how damaging thought patterns result in giving away the present - the only time we’re ever guaranteed, feeding a self-absorption that exacerbates our suffering. Easwaran explains the age-old spiritual tool known as mantra, demonstrating the ways we can use it to transform our pain. Using a sacred word as a pivot from negativity trains the brain to focus instead on the positivity we know as God. I found myself deeply grateful to Easwaran during the endless wait as my daughter-in-law struggled through the excruciatingly long and perilous delivery of my grandson. “Oh Sacred Heart…kept me afloat and held us all in the palm of God’s hand.

By Eknath Easwaran,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Mantram Handbook as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The mantram, or mantra, is a short, powerful, spiritual formula from the world's great traditions, repeated silently in the mind, anytime, anywhere. Examples of mantrams are Rama, Rama, used by Gandhi, or My God and My All, repeated by St. Francis of Assisi, or Om Mani Padme Hum. Easwaran taught the use of the mantram for over forty years as part of his passage meditation program. He explains how the mantram works, and gives practical guidelines for using it to focus our thoughts and access deeper resources of strength, patience, and love. The mantram can help us replenish our energy,…


Book cover of Gandhi: A Political and Spiritual Life

David Hardiman Author Of Gandhi in His Time and Ours: The Global Legacy of His Ideas

From my list on Mahatma Gandhi and his life.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have for over fifty years studied and written about the Indian nationalist movement, examining it from many different angles. I lived and worked for many years in India. I have throughout had an appreciative but often troubled relationship with Gandhi – admiring him for much of what he stood for, while finding it hard to accept many of his beliefs and actions. This will be apparent to anyone reading the books that I have written. Despite this, I have a deep respect for a man who was undoubtedly a towering figure in twentieth-century history.   

David's book list on Mahatma Gandhi and his life

David Hardiman Why did David love this book?

Tidrick explores with much insight the influences on Gandhi that shaped his spiritual and political life, ranging from the vegetarian movement, theosophy, esoteric Christianity, nineteenth-century authors and thinkers such as Ruskin, Thoreau, and Tolstoy, along with his sometimes-eccentric understanding of Hinduism. She shows how he saw his mission as divinely-inspired, and his belief that – so long as he upheld his ‘truth’ with rigour – he would have the power to change the world. Gandhi had at times his doubts as to his purity and thus his abilities in this respect, leading him into some ‘experiments’ that could disturb his close followers, as when he sought to test his chastity. In this book, Tidrick reveals Gandhi’s idiosyncrasies in illuminating ways.   

By Kathryn Tidrick,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Gandhi as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Throughout his long and turbulent career as an Indian leader, first in South Africa and then in India, Gandhi sought to fulfill his religious aspirations through politics, and to reconcile politics with his private religious discipline. The Gandhi revealed here is not the secular saint of popular renown, but a difficult and self-obsessed man driven by a sense of unique personal destiny. Penetrating and provocative, Tidrick draws on material previously ignored by Gandhi's biographers and explores the paradoxes within his life and beliefs. Did the nationalist leader truly believe that he was not just fighting for Indian independence but also…


Book cover of The Age of Shiva

Peggy Payne Author Of Sister India

From my list on sensuous literature of India.

Why am I passionate about this?

About thirty years ago, I spent three months on an Indo-American Fellowship in Varanasi taking notes on daily life in this holy city where my novel Sister India is set. That winter felt like a separate life within my life, a bonus. Because all there was so new to me, and it was unmediated by cars, television, or computers, I felt while I was there so much more in touch with the physical world, what in any given moment I could see, hear, smell…. It was the way I had felt as a child, knowing close-up particular trees and shrubs, the pattern of cracks in a sidewalk.

Peggy's book list on sensuous literature of India

Peggy Payne Why did Peggy love this book?

The sensory quality of stories of India is inevitable because the country itself is so vividly alive to all the senses. And Hinduism, the predominant religion, is, more than other religions, expressed in physical images and rituals. Suri’s novel treats motherhood in particular in finely observed physical detail, conveying the emotions so well through the senses. A reader irresistibly immerses in the story.

By Manil Suri,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Age of Shiva as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Age of Shiva is at once a powerful story of a country in turmoil and an "unflinchingly honest" portrait of maternal love-"intricately interwoven with the ancient rites and myths" (Booklist) crucial to India's history. Meera, the narrator, is seventeen years old when she catches her first glimpse of Dev, performing a song so infused with passion that it arouses in her the first flush of erotic longing. She wonders if she can steal him away from Roopa, her older, more beautiful sister, who has brought her along to see him. It is only when her son is born that…


Book cover of Who Believes What? Exploring the World’s Major Religions

Steven Clark Cunningham Author Of It's Considerate to Be Literate about Religion: Poetry and Prose about Religion, Conflict, and Peace in Our World

From my list on religion and spirituality for younger readers.

Why am I passionate about this?

My passion for studying religion started decades ago, now culminating in a master's degree from Harvard in religion. My main interest is religious literacy, and my master's thesis is on religious literacy among healthcare providers, which is not surprising since I myself work in healthcare. I am particularly interested in interfaith approaches that unite people of diverse religious and nonreligious backgrounds in a common goal of doing some good in the world.

Steven's book list on religion and spirituality for younger readers

Steven Clark Cunningham Why did Steven love this book?

What I really like about this book is that the one-page introduction, "What is Religion?" mentions several important tenets of religious literacy as described by the American Academy of Religion, such as the fact that religions are internally diverse, and that religion is deeply embedded in most or all aspects of human culture and life. The latter of these underscores the importance for all to be religiously literate, even people who self-identify as nonreligious. The book covers only five major religions (Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam), and doesn’t seem biased towards any one of them, giving the usual general description of each. The full-spread illustrations showing many different aspects of life within each religious tradition are engaging for kids (and adults!).

By Wills, Nora Tomm (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Who Believes What? Exploring the World’s Major Religions as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 7, 8, 9, and 10.

What is this book about?

In today’s multicultural cities and interconnected world, understanding different belief systems can help kids appreciate the differences of people they see every day, or people who live on the other side of the globe. This book introduces readers to the five major world religions by population: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism.

Each mini-section opens with a fully illustrated spread representing one religion. Designed in a search-and-find style, the illustrated spreads are busy, bright, and jam-packed with details that show people worshipping among symbolic places, rituals, and objects. A text spread follows, pulling out details from the illustrated page and…


Book cover of Essays On The Gita

Duff McDonald Author Of Tickled: A Commonsense Guide to the Present Moment

From Duff's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Podcast Host Yogi Badineur Happiness Detective

Duff's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Duff McDonald Why did Duff love this book?

Sri Aurobindo may be the greatest philosopher in history. His essays on the Bhagavad Gita are both illuminating and inspiring.

This is the fourth time I have read this book in the past three years. When I read Aurobindo, I often feel as if I am in the thrall of a great sermon. When I read Aurobindo on the Gita, I feel as if I am in the thrall of a great sermon that’s being given by God and translated by Sri Aurobindo.

By Sri Aurobindo,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Essays On The Gita as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Essays On The Gita is a collection of essays written by Sri Aurobindo, a renowned Indian philosopher, yogi, and spiritual leader. The book is a profound interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most revered texts in Hinduism. In this book, Sri Aurobindo delves deep into the spiritual and philosophical aspects of the Bhagavad Gita, exploring its teachings on karma, dharma, self-realization, and the nature of the divine. He presents a comprehensive analysis of the Gita's teachings, drawing upon his own experiences as a yogi and spiritual seeker.The essays in this book are not only a scholarly interpretation of…


Book cover of Ashoka, The Visionary

Sylvia Vetta Author Of Sculpting the Elephant

From my list on India recovering its past.

Why am I passionate about this?

Thanks to access to a good community library, I developed an interest in history from the age of seven. My interest in India grew when I married Indian-born Atam Vetta. After teaching, I set up a business and was director of Oxford Antiques Centre. In 1998, while chair of the Thames Valley Art and Antique Dealers Association, I was invited to become the art and antiques writer for The Oxford Times. That was how my freelance writing career began but since 2016 I have concentrated on writing fiction and poetry but make occasional contributions to The Madras Courier.

Sylvia's book list on India recovering its past

Sylvia Vetta Why did Sylvia love this book?

To understand India it is important to know that it was the birthplace of four great religions, Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. The Buddha was a Vedic teacher with a following in North East India. The emperor Ashoka was responsible for spreading the religion we know as Buddhism. Ashok Khanna’s account of Ashoka, the ruler of the Indian subcontinent for 37 years from 269 BCE traces the important influences Greek and Persian philosophy had on Indian society and the origins of Buddhism. Khanna describes Ashoka’s carved edicts on pillars and rocks extolling justice based on equal treatment for all. Ashoka is a much-needed example of good governance and Khanna’s account is assessable. You don’t need to know anything about Ashoka to read this book.  

Book cover of Photos of the Gods: the Printed Image and Political Struggle in India

William Gallois Author Of Qayrawān: The Amuletic City

From my list on Islamic art and it's hidden beauty.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a scholar who has spent most of his working life looking at the history of North Africa. This passion was formerly directed toward looking at the conditions that Europeans imposed on local populations, but in recent times, I have moved solely to consider forgotten cultures made by indigenous Muslim and Jewish populations. Making this move has been the best, riskiest, and most rewarding choice I’ve ever made in my career, and I am now a cheerleader for the incredible forms of art made by ordinary people in these societies.

William's book list on Islamic art and it's hidden beauty

William Gallois Why did William love this book?

I love the open-mindedness of this book and the way in which it can open your mind as a reader.

Can pictures think for themselves? How do pictures communicate with each other and with their audiences? These are the kinds of questions that this pathbreaking work opens up to its audience.

It also changed my sense as to how photography and painting/prints relate to each other, as well as providing a strong defence of the idea that deep cultural critique can be founded upon the study of quite ordinary objects and texts.

By Christopher Pinney,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Photos of the Gods as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Photos of the Gods' is a comprehensive history of India's popular visual culture. Combining anthropology, political and cultural history, and the study of aesthetic systems, and using many intriguing and unfamiliar images, the book shows that the current predicament of India cannot be understood without taking into account this complex, fascinating, and until now virtually unseen, visual history.


Book cover of The Essential Mystics
Book cover of The Direct Path: Creating a Personal Journey to the Divine Using the World's Spiritual Traditions
Book cover of Hindu, Buddhist and Tantric Gods and Goddesses, Ritual Objects and Religious Symbols

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,585

readers submitted
so far, will you?