The Ethnography of Tantra: Textures and Contexts of Living Tantric Traditions

Carola E. Lorea · Rohit Singh

Nov 2023 · State University of New York Press

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This is the first collection of essays to approach the topic of Tantric Studies from the vantage point of ethnography and lived religion, moving beyond the centrality of written texts and giving voice to the everyday life and livelihoods of a multitude of Tantric actors. Bringing together a team of international scholars whose contributions range across diverse communities and traditions in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayan region, the book connects distant shores of Tantric scholarship and lived Tantric practices. The contributors unpack Tantra’s relationship to the body, ritual performance, sexuality, secrecy, power hierarchies, death, magic, and healing, while doing so with vigilant sensitivity to decolonization and the ethics of fieldwork. Through diverse ethnographies of Tantra and attention to lived experiences and life stories, the book challenges normative definitions of Tantra and maps the variety of Tantric traditions, providing comparative perspectives on Tantric societies across regions and religious backgrounds. The accessible tone of the ethnographic case studies makes this an ideal book for undergraduate or graduate audiences working on the topic of Tantra.

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Carola E. Lorea is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Faculty of Humanities at the University of Tubingen in Germany. She is the author of Folklore, Religion, and the Songs of a Bengali Madman: A Journey Between Performance and the Politics of Cultural Representation. Rohit Singh is Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at UNC Greensboro.