A function will be held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday, June 23, 2014 to give a copy of the encyclopedia, an official release said. Encyclopedia of Hinduism is a project of Rishikesh- based India Heritage Research Foundation (IHRF).
"Twenty-five years in the making, the product of more than 1,000 esteemed scholars from around the world, totaling 11-volumes and approximately 7,000 entries, the Encyclopedia of Hinduism is the first time in history that the depth and breadth of India's great spiritual culture is made available in authentic, academic and scholastic form," the IHRF said.
The encyclopedia is a compendium of thousands of years of history, science, art, architecture, polity, religion, philosophy and culture, it said.
"Further, the encyclopedia is not limited to Hinduism as a religion, but rather provides all inclusive treatment of India's spiritual culture (including coverage of Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism traditions in India)," the IHRF said.
The encyclopedia was launched in India by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the international edition was launched in the US by the University of South Carolina, Columbia. The encyclopedia was conceived by Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, founder of IHRF, it said.