Hindu Hell: Visions, Tours and Descriptions of the Infernal Otherworld

In the long tradition of Hindu literature there was a significant development in the concept of hell from the period of the Vedas (c. 1500 1000 BCE) through the period of the Puranas (c. 300 1500 CE). The earliest descriptions are vague, particularly in terms of topography, alluding only to an underground, dark, putrid place for punishing sinners. Later descriptions calculate the huge dimensions, and designate almost innumerable subdivisions, of hell. Hell descriptions have been collected here from eight Hindu texts: The Rig-Veda, the Atharva-Veda [Veda of the Wise and the Old], the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Markandeya Purana, the Vamana Purana, the Padma Purana, the Agni Purana.. This work is published in conjunction with Hell-on-Line.org, a website that presents a comprehensive collection of materials on the more than 100 visions, tours and descriptions of the infernal otherworld from the cultures of the world from 2000 BCE to the present. Includes notes, glossary, web resources.