Koostöös Tartu Ülikooliga korraldab Eesti Akadeemiline Usundiloo Selts esimesed Ivar Paulsoni nimelised loengud religiooniuuringutes. Sel aastal peab Paulsoni loenguid hinnatud India tantra uurija Paolo E. Rosati, kes on silma paistnud olulise ajaloolis-võrdleva teadustööga tantra kui religioosse nähtuse uurimisalal.
Ajad ja kohad:
02.11.2022 kell 16:15-17:45 – Ülikooli 18-139: Tantra and Beyond
03.11.2022 kell 16:15-17:45 – Ülikooli 18-139: The Cult of the Goddess Kāmākhyā (Assam)
04.11.2022 kell 14:15-15:45 – Ülikooli 18-139: Blood, Sex, and Magic: The Power of the Yonipīṭha at Kāmākhyā
Loengute pikemad sisukirjeldused on leitavad allpool.
Tantra and Beyond
02.11.2022 kell 16:15-17:45 – Ülikooli 18-139
This lecture is a short introduction to Tantra as a religious phenomenon related not only to the Sanskritic élite and its textual production (such as, e.g., the highly philosophical Kashmiri Śivaism and its non-dualistic view of the universe) but also to the cross-cultural dialectic between Brahmanism and non-mainstream religions, such as tribal and folk traditions. After an analysis of the proposed definitions of Tantra in the history of the studies, the characteristics of Tantra will be point out in order to explain the problematic identification of Tantra as an univocal category because the extreme fluidity of its elements. Hence, also a differentiation between left-hand and right-hand or soft-core and hard-core Tantra emerges as a flawed attempt of classification. Finally, the controversial issue regarding the ‘birth’ of Tantra will be discussed highlighting the possibility of a multiple origin of what we call Tantra.
The Cult of the Goddess Kāmākhyā (Assam)
03.11.2022 kell 16:15-17:45 – Ülikooli 18-139
The mythology of the goddess Kāmākhyā was introduced in the early medieval Kālikāpurāṇa (ninth–eleventh century CE), a Śākta text that linked the yoni of Satī to the Assamese goddess Kāmākhyā. This lecture will analyse the medieval and pre-modern Purāṇas and Tantras compiled in northeastern India—focusing on their mythological accounts of the cosmogony of the yoni-pīṭha—in order to outline the intersection of Kaula-Tantra and Purāṇic elements in the formation of the Goddess’s cult at Kāmākhyā.
Blood, Sex, and Magic: The Power of the Yonipīṭha at Kāmākhyā
04.11.2022 kell 14:15-15:45 – Ülikooli 18-139
This lecture explores the connection between Tantra and the magic tradition of Nīlācala in Assam in order to explain the encounter between Brahmanism and magic. First, the doctrinal, ritual, and mythical background of the cult of the Goddess Kāmākhyā, whose roots go back to the esoteric sexual path of Kaula Tantra praxis will be discussed. Having traced the history to this path, which around the 10th century switched from blood sacrifice to a mystic-erotic ritual centred on the yoni-pūjā (worship of the vulva), homologizing blood offerings and erotic rituals focusing on the human body as a source of sexual fluids necessary to obtain such supernatural accomplishments (siddhis), this lecture then examines the concept of siddhi as a ‘magical power’ that can be acquired only by those belonging to the kula (clan), the only ones who know the yoni’s secret (the restricted transmission of siddhis over kula’s generations being a complement to the ideology of blood sacrifice). Finally, it considers the intersection of indigenous traditions and Brahmanical ritual praxis in Assam as the source of the peculiar cult of the yoni of Kāmākhyā. From this discussion, Assamese Tantra emerges as a religious phenomenon that crosses socio-cultural boundaries and encompasses apparently irreconcilable categories
Paolo E. Rosati on Roomas (Itaalias) tegutsev sõltumatu uurija. Tal on doktorikraadi Aasia ja Aafrika uuringutes Rooma Sapienza Ülikoolist 2017. aastast. 2016. aastast saati on ta avaldanud hulgaliselt teadusartikleid yoni kultusest Kamakhyas. Tema märkimisväärsemate publikatsioonide hulka kuulub ajakirja Religions of South Asia toimetatud tantra-temaline erinumber (vol. 14, no. 1-2) ning koos Andrea Acriga toimetatud kogumik Tantra, Magic, and Vernacular Religions in Monsoon Asia: Texts, Practices, and Practitioners from the Margins (Routledge Studies in Tantric Traditions). Ühtlasi on tema koostamisel valmimas ka teine artiklikogumik, pealkirjaga Magic, the Supernatural, and Danger across Pre-Modern and Modern Monsoon Asia. Paolo Rosati peamiseks uurimisvaldkonnaks on olnud tantra ajalooline kujunemine kesk- ja varauusaja Assamis. Viimasel ajal on ta eriti tähelepanu pööranud tntra, maagia, sooliste aspektide ja mälu omavahelistele seostele uusajal.
Ivar Paulsoni nimelised loengud keskenduvad märkimisväärsematele teemadele, suundumustele ja uutele teadmistele kaasaja religiooniuuringutes. Ivar Paulson (1922-1966) paistis oma teadustöös silma ambitsioonika laiahaardelisusega nii käsitlust leidva materjali kui ka küsimuste ja uurimistöös rakendatavate lähenemisviiside poolest. Nõnda on ka Paulsoni loengute eesmärgiks tuua kokku tähelepanuväärsemaid uurimissuundi religiooniuuringute erinevatest valdkondadest.