The Path of Desire: Living Tantra in Northeast India

About the Book

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.

Table of 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

About the Author :
Hugh B. Urban is College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor at the Ohio State University. He is the author of numerous books including Secrecy: Silence, Power, and Religion, also published by the University of Chicago Press.

Review :
"Urban’s exploration of the depictions and expressions of gender and sexuality within Tantra is especially valuable, and he uses it to illustrate one of the ways in which the study of lived and living religion—including Tantra—can be informed by dialogues between South Asian, North American, and European perspectives. . . . While the arguments throughout the book are compelling and supported with valuable data, perhaps the most striking findings have to do with the very complex relationships between Tantra and Hindu nationalism. These discussions may be the most valuable to scholars not only of Tantra in the context of India but also of the economic, cultural, and political dimensions of the modern Hindu nationalist movement." "Urban has done a remarkable job in documenting the changing role of Tantra in Northeast India. This book is an indispensable resource on Assamese Tantra and would benefit readers in combating widespread misinformation on the subject." “Set in the lush hills of northeast India among Hindu communities that practice diverse and sometimes transgressive rituals, this book is about desire, but it’s also about the path that may lead us through tangled webs of experience into well-being and beyond. Through well-crafted narrative and patient attention to daily life, Urban contributes a rich and detailed analysis of texts, histories, rituals, and sensibilities.” “This engaging book opens new vistas in the study of living Tantric traditions. It shows how Tantra is embedded in concrete social realities, especially in Assam. A must-read for those interested in contemporary religion in India.” “Urban skillfully combines historiography and ethnography to reveal the remarkably complex dimensions of Tantra in northeast India, including a brilliant analysis of the many aspects of desire. He also explores ongoing developments in Tantra in the larger contexts of globalization and the influences of nationalism, neoliberalism, and popular culture.” “The Path of Desire is a skillfully crafted and readable ethnography of ‘living Tantra’ in the twenty-first century. In this powerful account, Urban refuses to simplify complex entanglements surrounding female sexual agency, menstruation, and indigenous identities that endure—and thrive—despite confrontations with nationalism, tourism, neoliberalism, and globalization.”