Tina Manandhar. 2014. ‘Digu pūjā: lineage god worship. A cultural study of the Kathmandu city’. PhD diss., Tribhuvan University. 238 pp., 29 illustrations. [repo – NB: is currently misconfigured] [PDF]
Michaels (2018), Nepal in the World
Axel Michaels. 2018. Nepal in the World. South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University (xasia repository). 27 pp. [DOI:10.11588/xarep.00004115] [PDF]
From the Abstract: This paper is an English version of the author’s farewell lecture held on the 20th of July, 2016, in the old lecture hall (“Alte Aula”) of Heidelberg University.
Moronval (2017), Vitalités chez les Néwar bouddhistes
Frédéric Moronval. 2017. Vitalités linguistique et religieuse chez les Néwar bouddhistes de la vallée de Kathmandu. Thèse de doctorat en Sciences du langage – linguistique, Normandie Université. Français. NNT: 2017NORMR055. <tel-01697607> [PDF]
From the English abstract: Newari, the indigenous language of the Kathmandu valley, is considered by the UNESCO as an endangered language, […] why and to which extent both the mother tongue and Buddhism are decreasing among Newars, and what, if any, is the causal relationship linking the evolution of these two cultural features. […] Continue reading “Moronval (2017), Vitalités chez les Néwar bouddhistes”
Sinclair (2016), The appearance of tantric monasticism in Nepal
Iain Sinclair. 2016. ‘The appearance of tantric monasticism in Nepal: a history of the public image and fasting ritual of Newar Buddhism, 980-1380’. Monash University, Melbourne: PhD diss. 418 pp., 90 illustrations, 27 tables. DOI:10.4225/03/58ab8cadcf152
Contents
Continue reading “Sinclair (2016), The appearance of tantric monasticism in Nepal”
Wollein (2017), The Mūl Dīpaṅkara shrine
Andrea Wollein. 2017. ‘An ethnographic study of the Mūl Dīpaṅkara shrine in Bhaktapur (Nepal): the relationship between people and place’. University of Vienna: M.A. thesis (Masterstudium Kultur u. Gesellschaft des neuzeitlichen Südasiens). 189 pp., 87 figures. URN: nbn:at:at-ubw:1-20536.38953.228466-1 [official notice] [author: facebook]
Abstract: This thesis presents locality specific research in the form of an ethnography that draws both from fieldwork and published scholarly literature. The inter-disciplinary research is contextualized within the wider field of South Asian Studies and pertains to Himalayan, Buddhist and Newar Studies as well as to Tibetology. It is specifically concerned with the socioreligious dimension of Newar Buddhist monasteries (Skrt. vihāra, New. bāhā and bahī), the Buddhist deity Dīpaṅkara and the configuration of the relationship between the two of them as found in the setting of the Mūl Dīpaṅkara shrine in Bhaktapur. Continue reading “Wollein (2017), The Mūl Dīpaṅkara shrine”
Dina Bangdel (1965–2017)
Dr Dina Bangdel (5.12.1965–25?.7.2017) is well known among Nepal specialists as a historian of religious art. Her 1999 dissertation, Manifesting the Mandala, and co-authored 2003 exhibition catalogue, Circle of Bliss, emphasised the visual culture of the Cakrasamvara cycle in Newar Buddhism, which is traditionally kept secret. Dr Bangdel had been planning to show a selection of this and related art on a world-travelling exhibition and was scheduled to speak at the “New Research on Newar Buddhism” panel at IABS. This week Dr Bangdel passed away, reportedly after complications following surgery. She is survived by her husband Bibhakar Shakya and two children.
(Added 2018/1/20:) ‘Remembering scholars of Nepalese Art Mary Slusser and Dina Bangdel’ (Rubin Museum of Art)
Continue reading “Dina Bangdel (1965–2017)”
Production Type (2017), Spectral
Spectral is a parametric serif font with true italic, bold and small caps, a number of weights, and the desired Latin Extended Additional diacritics. It’s free to download and is available for use under the SIL Open Font license 1.1. Personal take: Spectral is a big advance on what’s out there, offering unprecedented typesetting flexibility, but it’s not yet clear how well it is suited for the printed page. See some informed criticism.
git: https://github.com/productiontype/Spectral
Khentrul Rinpoché (2015), A Joyful Ocean of Precious Diversity
Shar Khentrul Jamphel Lodrö (ཤར་མཁན་སྤྲུལ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་འཇམ་དཔལ་བློ་གྲོས); Joe Flumerfelt, ed. 2015. A Joyful Ocean of Precious Diversity: An unbiased summary of views and practices, gradually emerging from the teachings of the world’s wisdom traditions (སྣ་ཚོགས་ནོར་བུའི་རོལ་མཚོ། །རིས་མེད་འཛམ་གླིང་རིག་པའི་གཞུང་ལུགས་བྱུང་རིམ་ལྟ་གྲུབ་ཉིང་བསྡུས།།). Belgrave, Australia: Tibetan Buddhist Rimé Institute, ISBN: 9780994445308. US$24.95.
OCLC: 978641292. Official site: rimebuddhism.com
Contents:
Acknowledgments … vii
Editor’s Preface … ix
Introduction … 1
PART ONE: WORKING WITH DIVERSITY
1 The Nature of Belief … 15
2 The Rimé Philosophy … 29
PART TWO: THE WORLD'S BELIEF SYSTEMS
Systems with an Extrinsic Focus
3 Ancient Wisdom Traditions … 49
4 Hinduism … 67
5 Judaism … 89
6 Christianity … 107
7 Islam … 129 Continue reading “Khentrul Rinpoché (2015), A Joyful Ocean of Precious Diversity”
Gutschow (2016), Bhaktapur–Nepal
Niels Gutschow. 2016. Bhaktapur–Nepal: Stadt und Ritual – Urban Space and Ritual. Berlin: DOM publishers. 331 × 255 mm. 2 vols. 540 pp. ISBN 978-3-86922-522-7 [English & German text; unseen]
Official site: http://dom-publishers.com/products/bhaktapur-nepal
From the Abstract: Among the many festivals of the year, ten occasions are selected. Of these, the celebration of the New Year – Bisketjātrā – in April, the Farewell to the Dead – Gāījātrā – in August and the Victory of the goddess Durgā – Dasāīn – in October are of significant meaning for the well-being of the community. Moreover, the ritual of the Navadurgā Deities leaves an imprint on the spatial and temporal integrity of the urban realm over a period of nine months. Continue reading “Gutschow (2016), Bhaktapur–Nepal”
Feichtinger (2011), Rituelle Pluralität und Performanz [Nyakū Jātrā Matayā]
Feichtinger, Walter. 2011. Rituelle Pluralität und Performanz. Das Newar Festival Nyakū Jātrā Matayā in Pāṭan, Nepal. Diplomarbeit (Mag. Phil.), University of Vienna. Fakultät für Sozialwissenschaften. URN: urn:nbn:at:at-ubw:1-29510.85611.848460-1. [PDF]
Abstract: This diploma thesis is about the plural ritual praxis of a religious festival of the Newars in the city of Pāṭan, within the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. The Nyakū Jātrā Matayā serves as a stage for the living and dead, gods and demons, as well as the beliefs of two religious systems and a globalized society that is at the same time deep-rooted in tradition. Continue reading “Feichtinger (2011), Rituelle Pluralität und Performanz [Nyakū Jātrā Matayā]”