Tantrism and Women’s Empowerment in India

• Authors: Reghina Dascăl
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

It is the purpose of this paper to explore some aspects of Tantrism, an esoteric system of spiritual advancement by the cultivation of physical and psychic resources rooted in the ancient Hindu philosophical concept of shakti. Between 900 and the fifteenth century it not only contributed immensely to feminizing and galvanizing Hinduism, but it also gave rise to a scriptural corpus, rewriting goddess theology, her relation to male deity, her cosmic functions, being at the same time subversive of dominant Brahmanical values and speaking directly to women’s experiences.

Keywords

EN

Tantra; Buddhism; Hinduism; goddess; empowerment; shakti; bhakti

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Gender Studies
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 11
• Issue: Supplement
• Pages: 220-234

Dates

published

2012-12-01

online

2012-12-28

Contributors

author

Reghina Dascăl

• West University of Timişoara 4, Vasile Pârvan Blvd, 300223

References

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Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10320-012-0020-y