Nine Lives In Search of the Sacred by William Dalrymple

about the book

The product of a 25-year exploration of India’s cultural and religious traditions, this collection of biographies introduces the reader to nine unforgettable characters. They include a Buddhist monk who takes up arms to resist the Chinese invasion of Tibet and then spends the rest of his life trying to atone for the violence by hand printing the best prayer flags in India; a Jain nun who tests her powers of detachment as she watches her best friend ritually starve to death; and a devadasi, or temple prostitute, who resists her own initiation into sex work yet pushes both of her daughters into a trade she now regards as a sacred calling. This fascinating, visceral evocation of India delves deep into the heart of a nation torn between the relentless onslaught of modernity and the ancient traditions that endure to this day.