The First volume covers the Buddhist, Jain and Hindu monuments of India. The introductory section gives a lucid and accessible account of the rise of the three religions and the similarities between them that lend India its cultural cohesiveness. The interlocking symbolic systems and mythologies of these three religions are linked to the sites themselves and to the architectural forms of temples and shrines. The lively and picturesque stories that surround the major deities and saints are related to sculptures and paintings. George Michell places the monuments into their historical and cultural context and offers a fascinating overview of Indian religious practice, still very much alive today.