RT Article
T1 Sakta Tantric Traditions of Kerala in the Process of Change: Some Notes on Raudra-Mahartha Sampradaya
JF Religions of South Asia
VO 14
IS 1/2
SP 150
OP 175
A1 Karasinski, Maciej
LA English
PB Equinox
YR 2020
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1770076700
AB In this paper I shall propose some hypotheses that have emerged from my fieldwork on the so-called sakta Tantra of Kerala (also known locally as Raudra or Mahartha). This Hindu tantric tradition weds ritualistic practices of Kashmirian Saivism (Krama-Trika) with the folk beliefs of Kerala. It could be said that the sakta (sakteyam in Malayalam) Brahmins of Malabar are representatives of the Mahartha Tantra of Kerala. I intend to shed some light on the sakta tradition and compare the data from my fieldwork with the scriptural tradition. Therefore, I would like to present here some of my observations from reading the ritual texts of the sakta Tantric Brahmins. Their ritualistic handbook (preserved in the form of a palm-leaf manuscript) forms a detailed ritual manual composed in a mixture of Sanskrit and Malayalam. Interestingly, the ritual directions are given sometimes in Sanskrit and other times in Malayalam, but most often in a combination of both languages. Being primarily goddess-oriented, the text teaches the reader methods of self empowerment and reaching the enlightened non-dual state through realizing the potencies of Kali. This paper introduces the structure of the ritual handbook and concerns the ritual peculiarities of the modern Tantric practitioners in Kerala.
K1 Kerala
K1 Krama
K1 Mahārtha
K1 Tantra
K1 Śakta
K1 Goddess
DO 10.1558/rosa.19322