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Full Description
A provocative study of contemporary Tantra as a dynamic living tradition.
Tantra, one of the most important religious currents in South Asia, is often misrepresented as little more than ritualized sex. Through a mixture of ethnography and history, Hugh B. Urban reveals a dynamic living tradition behind the sensationalist stories. Urban shows that Tantric desire goes beyond the erotic, encompassing such quotidian experiences as childbearing and healing. He traces these holistic desires through a series of unique practices: institutional Tantra centered on gurus and esoteric rituals; public Tantra marked by performance and festival; folk Tantra focused on magic and personal well-being; and popular Tantra imagined in fiction, film, and digital media. The result is a provocative new description of Hindu Tantra that challenges us to approach religion as something always entwined with politics and culture, thoroughly entangled with ordinary needs and desires.
Contents
List of Figures and Tables
Introduction. The Path of Desire: Living Tantra, Vernacular Religion, and the Study of Secrets
Chapter 1. The Left-Hand Path: Secrecy, Transgression, and the Kaula Tradition in Assam
Chapter 2. "The Land of Black Magic": Healing, Enchantment, and Witchcraft
Chapter 3. The Politics of Sacrifice: Blood Offerings and the Struggle over Local and National Identity in Modern India
Chapter 4. Dancing for the Snake: Possession, Performance, and Gender in Manasā Pūjā
Chapter 5. "The Cradle of Tantra": Modern Transformations of a Tantric Center from Nationalist Symbol to Tourist Destination
Chapter 6. "Sinister Tāntriks": Tantra in Popular Culture, Fiction, and Film
Conclusions. The Path of Desire in the Age of Capital: Living Tantra in the Context of Globalization and Neoliberalism
Acknowledgments and Entanglements
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
