Organizer and Chair: Srinivas Chary, New School for Social Research
Barbara Kelly, University of Colorado
A Hindu Kingdom, Nepal is ostensibly the last repository of Mahayan Buddhism as it existed in Northeast India in the twelfth century in tandem with its Hindu counterpart. The relationship between these Indian traditions, historically labeled Buddhist and Hindu, has produced a Newari religious system with unique characteristics manifest in truly ecumenical worship patterns. Yet, scholarly interpretation of this accommodation, which treats the traditions as separate, suggests various degrees of antagonism or historical subordination. Many indicate that Newari Buddhism is, in fact, merely another form of Hinduism.
By examining patterns of worship relating to the cult of the virgin goddess Kumari, this paper demonstrates that Buddhism and Hinduism were never two distinct religious traditions in India, but related in much the same manner apparent in Nepal today. Their unique accommodation in the Kathmandu Valley, in fact, mirrors the seamless fabric of Indian religious tradition over the centuries.
The living goddess Kumari is a particularly appropriate study for this examination of the larger relationship of religious traditions in the Kathmandu Valley because her cult appears to be a syncretic one. Worship patterns within her microcosm reflect the same relationships and structures found in Newari society at large. Thus we find a deity selected from the Sakya caste whose roots seem to place her within Brahmanical context. She is portrayed as a virgin goddess, bestower of fertility, world power and prosperity and worshipped with pure substances. At the same time, she is also the incarnation of the blood-thirsty Hindu Taleju, tutelary deity of the Hindu monarchy, as well as the fierce Vajrayogini, partner of Cakrasambara, and can be worshipped with animal sacrifice. She is propitiated daily by tantric specialists, the Acahju and Vajracarya, of the Hindu and Buddhist traditions respectively and her devotees come from all segments of society.
An examination of her cult in terms of its legendary and mythical origins, its ritual and devotional practices, and its shared common heritage will explore the role of the Vajracarya, the monk-householder-priest, and the character of Newari Buddhism. It will reveal that the distinctions between Hinduism and Buddhism are not the most significant ways to describe Newari religion. Rather this analysis will indicate that it is the inheritance of a common Indian pantheon and practice which weaves a basic fabric of one piece uniquely Newari in its design.
Dina Bangdel, Ohio State University
In over 500 Buddhist monasteries of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, two themes recur consistently in the art, that are also significant in the religious practices of Newar Buddhism. These are the Svayambhu Mahacaitya and the Dharmadhatu Mandala. Svayambhu is the most sacred monument in the Newar Buddhist community and serves as the ontological source of the religion, as indicated by textual evidence and ritual practices. The presence of a secondary surrogate of Svayambhu, found in the courtyards of virtually every monastery, further suggests that Svayambhu Mahacaitya is the generating source of the Buddhist environment of the Valley.
The second recurrent imagery is the iconographic theme of the Dharmadhatu Vagisvara Manjughosa Mandala. As the root mandala of Newar Buddhism, it appears as complete freestanding mandalas in the courtyards, in the iconography of the strut figures on the shrine facade, or the torana iconography over the shrine door.
Although Svayambhu and Dharmadhatu Mandala are major features of Newar Buddhist art and religion, their combined significance has been overlooked in previous scholarship. The ubiquitous visual references and inscriptional evidence point to a symbolic relationship between these two symbol systems, which, I argue, is one of the fundamental premises of Newar Buddhism. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how the religious imagery defines and reiterates this symbolic identity. The buddalogical and doctrinal implications of this identity will also be discussed. An understanding of this sacred identity provides a framework to construct an iconology of Newar Buddhist imagery.
Mary Frances Dunham, Columbia University
Extensive bardic recitals featuring epic-like Muslim songs called jarigan flourished as mass entertainment during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the countryside of eastern Bengal. The stories which identify the repertory concern the martyrdom of Shi’a heroes in the battle of Karbala (Iraq, 680 A.D.), commemorated annually by the mourning rituals of Muharram observances. The Bengali word jari (from Persian zari, literally, wailing) once referred to the singing of Muharram dirges. In modern times, however, the expression jarigan (literally, wailing-song) is rarely applied to these dirges. Instead, it identifies any Bengali expository song recognized by its particular ex tempore style of composition and style of delivery, whether the subject matter is tragic or humorous.
To explain this phenomenon, my paper will describe the main problems I have encountered in defining the jarigan repertory, taking into account a lack of precise definitions of the term in Bengali dictionaries and among informants, a lack of consistency in written descriptions of jarigan, and a lack of written accounts by which to establish the origins of the repertory. The solutions to a definition involve exploring the probable sources of the repertory identifying the features that distinguish it from similar Bengali bardic repertories, and understanding the different contexts in which jarigan singing survives today.
The presentation will include sound recordings along with slide projections of jarigan singers and of diagrams showing the role of the jarigan repertory within a greater taxonomy of Bengali folk songs.
Sree Padma, Bowdoin College
Serpent worship and its religious and symbolic significance in India has been written about extensively by many scholars in the past since the late 19th century. The source material for these studies was mostly sculptures and sometimes paintings, the myths of Sanskrit texts (chiefly those describing the exploits of Vishnu, Krishna and Siva) and occasional field reports of devotees who worship serpents. Remarkably, however, these previous studies do not focus on the intimate relationship that exists between village goddesses and serpent lore. In my own field work in villages and at goddess temples in Andhra Pradesh, I noted that understanding this connection is crucial to ascertaining the socio-religious significance of the goddess in her cultic context and that the connection between serpents and village goddesses is perhaps even more extensive than in relation to male deities.
In this paper I will attempt to answer a series of questions including: Why do village people visualize their goddesses in serpent form? That is, what are the perceived affinities between the powers of the serpent and the powers of the goddess which render the association so complete? My answers will address issues of gender, sexuality, fertility and cosmogony. I will determine how specific my understanding is to Andhra or whether it is also prevalent throughout other cultural regions of India with the same intensity. I will also trace out the history of viewing the divine as a serpent with an eye toward determining early reasons behind it.