ABOUT THE BOOK:
In this groundbreaking study on Sarvamnaya Sakta Tantra in Nepal, Jeffrey S. Lidke combines the study of primary sources with the investigation of living interpretations of these sources by contemporary Nepalese practitioners. Lidke focuses his twenty-year analysis on a specific Tantric tradition - Sri Vidya - a specific deity - Tripurasundari - a specific text Nitytasikarnava. - and a specific set of initiates within a specific locale - the Kathmandu Valley.
This emphasis on specificity enables the author to contextualize his study within the unique Nepalese historical and sociocultural context, and thereby to represent Sarvamnaya Sakta Tantra not as a static, universal "ism" present in a single form throughout the subcontinent, but as a dynamic place-specific tradition reflecting the nuanced ways that peoples and institutions shape their religious traditions according to the power negotiations that arise in Tantric worlds in which individuals imagine they can be like the gods they worship.
The central symbol that drives these negotiations in Nepal is the mandala, a pan- Tantric instrument of worship by which Tantric practitioners - be they kings, commoners, artisans or warriors - navigate, imagine and identify with the territories in which they live and strive to obtain their mundane and spiritual aims.
The mandala'e ubiquitous presence is found not just overtly in city designs, temple architecture and a seemingly infinite array of artistic representations (including sculpture, painting, music and dance) but also covertly in the secret rituals and meditation practices of initiates at all levels of Nepalese society, ranging from lower caste girls to the former kings of Nepal.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jeffrey S. Lidke is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Berry College in Rome, Georgia. He earned his doctorate in Sanskrit and South Asian Religions from the University of California, Santa Barbara, under the tutelage of David Gordon White, Gerald James Larson, Ninian Smart and Barbara Holdrege. His first book, Vishvarupa Mandir: A Study of Changu Narayan, Nepal's Most Ancient Temple, drew international recognition as a significant contribution to scholarship on Asian architecture and religion. His numerous subsequent essays and chapters cover topics ranging from Kashmir Saivism, Sakta Tantra and Indian aesthetics to synesthesia and the neuroscience of contemplative practice. Dr. Lidke is a senior steering committee member of the Society for Tantric Studies. |
