The book explores one of the most important problems in Indian philosophical thought: the subject in its particular relation to the world. In what sense does the subject exist? How does it constitute the world? The analysis hinges on Sanskrit sources, mainly the Upanis. ads. However, it goes beyond the question of the subject. The book discusses the concept of how the subject establishes the world, which - in this cognitive perspective - becomes simultaneously recognised and deformed. Overcoming these deformations becomes a specific soteriological path.

The book presents the results of research carried out in recent years on the temples founded by the Birla family in northern and central India. The material gathered by the authors and the preliminary analysis based on it led to the creation of the first publication of this type, not only in Polish literature on the subject but also internationally. This is a monograph based on first-hand material, presenting the whole of the Birlas' sacral foundations – referring both to their importance in the context of national art, as well as their functioning in the social or political discourse on identity in pre-independence India. This project run for decades by successive Birla generations constitutes a highly coherent enterprise. The guiding idea was defined as building foundations for the spiritual and political power of modern India through a new reading of Indian tradition, in line with the challenges of the twentieth century. The book is therefore addressed to readers interested in India, particularly in the interpretation and recreation of tradition using the medium of art. The data presented in this book – representing only a small fragment of what was gathered – and the subsequent discussion open up new, extremely promising directions of research.