Tanaka (2018), Mañjuvajramukhyākhyāna

Tanaka, Kimiaki (田中公明). 2018. Mañjuvajramukhyākhyāna: Introduction, Romanized Sanskrit Text and Related Articles (Bonbun monju kongō kuden kenkyū 梵文「文殊金剛口伝」研究). Tokyo: Watanabeshuppan 渡辺出版, 2018.

Mañjuvajramukhyākhyāna

Furger (2017), The Gilded Buddha

Alex R. Furger. 2017. The gilded Buddha: The traditional art of the Newar metal casters in Nepal, with a contribution by Ratna Jyoti Shakya. Basel/Frankfurt a. M.: LIBRUM Publishers & Editors. ISBN: 978-3-906897-06-6. DOI:10.19218/3906897066. [official] [PDF 🔓]

Note: This extraordinary book covers almost every conceivable aspect of metalworked image production in the Newar Buddhist community.

Furger 2017:147 Figs. 258 [Bhairava at the entrance to the BhairavnathTemple in Bhaktapur], 259 [Man Jyoti Shakya (1917–1991) in 1973], 260 [Two pages from a sketchbook (ṭhyāsaphu) for metal craftsmen.]

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The Richard R. & Magdalena Ernst Collection of Himalayan Art (2018)

The Richard R. & Magdalena Ernst Collection of Himalayan Art. Auction, 22 March 2018, 10:00 AM EDT, Sotheby’s New York. Sale Number N09800. (Part of Asia Week New York.) [official site] [PDF]

Note: This extraordinary collection contains Nepalese paintings that have received little attention or that are otherwise significant. For instance, Lot 907 (below) is identified as a painted icon of Buddhakapāla (?), which would make it the only one known in Nepal.

Buddhakapāla couple (? supplied identification) with four yoginīs and donors, Nepal, early 19th c., Sotheby’s Sale N09800 Lot 907

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”

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]

Mul Dipankara
Wollein (2017:165) fig.74: The tilted face of the Mūl Dīpaṅkara. Photo by the author (August 2016).

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)

Aryatara
Tamang, ‘Green Tara’ (Bangdel 2016, fig.6)

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Rogora (2016), Lo Svayambhūpurāṇa

Luigi, Rogora. 2015-2016. ‘La Luce Nella Valle: Lo Svayambhūpurāṇa nel Buddhismo Nepālese’. Università degli Studi di Milano, Facoltà di Studi Umanistici. Corso di Laurea Triennale in Lettere. iv+167 pp. [academia.edu]

Note: Contains an annotated Italian translation of Svayambhūdharmadhātusamutpattinidānakathā 1.1–63.