The Goddess within and Beyond the Three Cities (Sakta Tantra and the Paradox of Power in Nepala Mandala)

About The Book

In this groundbreaking study on Sarvamnaya Sakta Tantra in Nepal, Jeffrey S. Lidke combines the study of primary sources with the investigation of living interpretations of these sources by contemporary Nepalese practitioners. Lidke focuses his twenty-year analysis on a specific Tantric tradition - Sri Vidya - a specific deity - Tripurasundari - a specific text Nitytasikarnava. - and a specific set of initiates within a specific locale - the Kathmandu Valley.

This emphasis on specificity enables the author to contextualize his study within the unique Nepalese historical and sociocultural context, and thereby to represent Sarvamnaya Sakta Tantra not as a static, universal "ism" present in a single form throughout the subcontinent, but as a dynamic place-specific tradition reflecting the nuanced ways that peoples and institutions shape their religious traditions according to the power negotiations that arise in