A professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard Uni­versity, Diana L. Eck is an eminent name in her field. She has been a frequent visitor to India since the 1960s and is the author of the much-acc­laimed Banaras, City of Light. Her new book, India: A Sacred Geography, has also received critical acclaim. In this interview with Pranay Sharma, she responds to various asp­ects of her latest book, the importance of pilgrimage in India and what Hindu religious symbols mean for this multi-cultural and pluralistic country. Excerpts:

Is Hindu mythology the most effective way of defining the geography of India?

India is too complex to be “defined” in any one way. Centuries of history and its multi-religious reality mean that there are many ways of seeing what “India” means, depending upon one’s point of view.