Sundhya is a daily recital of prayers by Hindu Brahmins, accompanied by appropriate gesticulations. This book was written in the mid-nineteenth century and for its author, a European lady, the religious habits and manners of the native Indians must have been interesting novelties worth exploring. The prayers, at places given in the original Sanskrit, invoke various Hindu deities like Vishnu, Hanuman and Mahadeva. They come with pictorial illustrations that represent the manner of their actual performance. Sundhya also carries information on the accessories crucial to the conduct of such prayers, like dhoodan and shunkh. The book, in S.C. Belnos's own words, intends to "communicate a correct idea of the practices.... and not to enter into the recondite subject of religion itself."
