Description
Book SynopsisTracing the complex genealogy of Tantra as a category within the history of religions, this work shows how it has been formed through the interplay of popular and scholarly imaginations.
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Preface and Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction: Diagnosing the "Disease" of Tantra 1. The Golden Age of the Vedas and the Dark Age of Kali: Tantrism, Orientalism, and the Bengal Renaissance 2. Sacrificing White Goats to the Goddess: Tantra and Political Violence in Colonial India 3. India's Darkest Heart: Tantra in the Literary Imagination 4. Deodorized Tantra: Sex, Scandal, Secrecy, and Censorship in the Works of John Woodroffe and Swami Vivekananda 5. Religion for the Age of Darkness: Tantra and the History of Religions in the Twentieth Century 6. The Cult of Ecstasy: Meldings of East and West in a New Age of Tantra Conclusion: Reimagining Tantra in Contemporary Discourse Notes Bibliography Index
