Receptacle of the Sacred: Illustrated Manuscripts and the Buddhist Book Cult in South AsiaIn considering medieval illustrated Buddhist manuscripts as sacred objects of cultic innovation, Receptacle of the Sacred explores how and why the South Asian Buddhist book-cult has survived for almost two millennia to the present. A book “manuscript” should be understood as a form of sacred space: a temple in microcosm, not only imbued with divine presence but also layered with the memories of many generations of users. Jinah Kim argues that illustrating a manuscript with Buddhist imagery not only empowered it as a three-dimensional sacred object, but also made it a suitable tool for the spiritual transformation of medieval Indian practitioners. Through a detailed historical analysis of Sanskrit colophons on patronage, production, and use of illustrated manuscripts, she suggests that while Buddhism’s disappearance in eastern India was a slow and gradual process, the Buddhist book-cult played an important role in sustaining its identity. In addition, by examining the physical traces left by later Nepalese users and the contemporary ritual use of the book in Nepal, Kim shows how human agency was critical in perpetuating and intensifying the potency of a manuscript as a sacred object throughout time. |
Contents
text Image and the Book | 1 |
Buddhist Books and their Cultic Use | 23 |
Innovations of the Medieval | 43 |
Representing the Perfection of Wisdom | 73 |
the visual World of Buddhist | 113 |
esoteric Buddhism and | 150 |
6 | 213 |
Notes | 287 |
351 | |
367 | |
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appear Avalokiteśvara beginning bodhisattvas Buddha Buddhist book cult Buddhist manuscripts Cambridge central century chapter Collection colophon color context covers cultic deities depicting developed discussion donated donor early eastern India eight enlightenment esoteric Buddhist example female figure five folio four given goddess Group hand historical holding iconographic program identified identity illustrated folios illustrated manuscripts images important India inscriptions late later located Mahāyāna makers maṇḍala manu master means medieval monastery monastic monk Museum Nālandā Nepal object original paintings panel Perfection Phase three placed possible powerful practice practitioners Prajñāpāramitā preaching prepared Press production reign represented ritual sacred scenes scribe script seated seems seen shows side similar social South Asia space structure suggests sūtra tārā term tibet tibetan tion tradition twelfth century understand University visual Wisdom worship