HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies Volume 20 Number 1 Himalayan Research Bulletin no. 1 & Article 16 2 2000 Conference Digest and Abstracts Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya Recommended Citation . 2000. Conference Digest and Abstracts. HIMALAYA 20(1). Available at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol20/iss1/16 This Other is brought to you for free and open access by the DigitalCommons@Macalester College at DigitalCommons@Macalester College. It has been accepted for inclusion in HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Macalester College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Conference Digest Please address your questions and information about meetings of interest to the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies' Conference Coordinator: Martijn van Beek Department of Ethnography and Social Anthropology Aarhus University Moesgaard DK-8270 Hojbjerg DENMARK CONFERENCE ABSTRACTS THE 29TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON SOUTH ASIA MADISON, WISCONSIN OCTOBER 12-15, 2000 On Location in Ladakh: Love, War, and Mani Contemporary Newat· Buddhists have experienced a Ratnam's "Dil Se" growing multiplicity of choices in the Buddhist traditions represented in the Kathmandu Valley. While their long-es­ Ravina Aggarwal, Smith College tablished vajradirya samgha continues to pelform rituals E-Mail: [email protected] for the majority of households, Theravadin institutions draw growing numbers to merit-making rituals and vipassana As media representations of the Kargil war reveal, land­ meditation programs. Japanese sects have also gained a scape and tenitory have dominated the portrayals of Ladakh following. Vat·ious Tibetan lamas, whose institutions have while the people who inhabit this region are rarely brought mushroomed in the Valley since 1990, still attract Newar into mainstream debates around definitions of the nation disciples, usually for healing rituals. Most recently added and its borders. Such foregrounding of land over people to this pluralistic urban scene are two reformist/modern­ can also be seen in popular films like Dil Se, a movie about ization initiatives that have arisen from within the high Bud­ chasing love in the shadows of political conflict. A sub­ dhist castes, both with the support of international Bud­ stantial portion of this film was shot in Ladakh but the lo­ dhist organizations. After surveying this religious field, the cation remains unacknowledged. This paper sets Mani paper will examine how these latter two groups reflect the Ratnam's film against the realities of the border war in democratic political environment of contemporat"y Nepal; Kargil and compares it to earlier films to offer a comn1en­ it will also explore how they must balance their initiatives tary on political, gendered, and racial aspects of border con­ amidst the forces of "Newar nationalism" on the one hand, structions. and a rising awat·eness of Buddhist universalism, on the Keywords: India, Ladakh, nationalism, gender, landscape, other. anthropology of film Keywords: Newars, Buddhism, Nepal PANEL: BUDDHISM AND IDENTITY IN THE Un-monkly business? The Role of Buddhist Monks in HIMALAYAS Modern Ladakhi Politics Mattijn van Beek Newar Buddhists in the Vortex of Countervailing Cul­ Aarhus University tural Forces E-Mail: [email protected] m Todd Lewis Holy Cross College At the time of the granting of regional autonomy to the district ofLeh in 1995, considerable debate took place over E-Mail: [email protected] the future role of religious figures in local government and decision making. While monks historically did not play 70 HIMALAYAN RESEARCH BULLETIN XX(l-2) 2000 formally as significant a role in secular affairs in Ladakh Keywords: anthropology, Tharu, identity, Nepal Tarai, as in Tibet before its occupation, they have played a promi­ Theravada Buddhism nent role in different political agitations, have contested elections, and have held ministerial and other political and administrative posts at the regional, state, and central level. RELIGIOUS HISTORIOGRAPHY IN SRI LANKA AND The continued prominence of the clergy both expresses and NEPAL reinforces Buddhism as a central feature of identification and politics in the region. Part of ongoing research build­ Iconology of Vasundhara in Nepal: Deciphering Cat­ ing on field research conducted since 1985, the paper draws egories of Tantric Buddhist Methodology on archival and other written sources, as well as interviews with religious figures, secular politicians, and common Dina Bangdel people. In addition to describing religious leaders' involve­ Western Michigan University ment in a ' modernizing' political and socio-economic en­ E-Mail: dina.bangdel @wmich.edu vironment, the paper contributes to the historiography of Ladakhi politics, and represents and analyzes local views Tantric methodology often categorizes deities, ritual, and perceptions regarding the proper role of religious lead­ and meditation as bahya "outer", guhya "secret" and ers in secular political affairs. The accounts also illustrates abhyantara "inner." These generally reflect the movement the dilemmas and contradictions caused by the encounter from exoteric, openly accessible Tantric practices to se­ of religious authority and ideals of monkhood and cret, more esoteric spheres that are restricted to the initi­ 'Realpolitik', and the different ways in which people man­ ated. Iconology and symbolism of Buddhist images may age them. also be interpreted to signify such core categories ofTantric practice. The paper will discuss the iconology of Keywords: anthropology, identity politics, religion, Ladakh, Vasundhara in this context and place it within the larger Tibetan Buddhism cult ofTantric goddesses (yoginis) of the Newar Buddhist community in Nepal. As the patron deity of Buddhist women and as the goddess of wealth, Vasundhara is cen­ "We are the Buddha's descendants": Buddhism in the tral to the lay practices. Yet, her iconology also hints at shaping of a Tharu identity in Nepal practices that are confined to the highly esoteric method­ Arjun Guneratne ologies of the Highest Yoga Tantras. Using the ritual prac­ Maca/ester College tices and material evidence, the paper aims to decipher E-Mail: [email protected] Vasundhara's multivalent symbolism within the categories ofTantric practices; further, Vasundhara's role among the The term Tharu is an ethnonym shared by a number of Tantric Buddhist yoginis will also be considered. ethnic group inhabiting the lowland region of Nepal known Keywords: art history, cultural studies, Tantric Buddhism, as the Tarai. Since the end ofRana rule, the Tharu elite has Buddhist goddess Geographic Subdivision: Nepal, been molding these various communities into a single eth­ Kathmandu Valley nic category. While these Tharu communities vary a great deal in terms of their religious systems, Tharu elites in the Eastern Tarai have embraced Theravada Buddhism as a cen­ Jalashayana Vishnu Imagery in Nepal: The NewarTra­ tral aspect of their identity and claim to be descendants of dition and Valley History the original Sakyas. They use Buddhism to define all Tharus as a community distinct from and superior to Nepal's Hindu Natalie R. Marsh majority and reject the myth of Raj put descent put forward Ohio State University by Tharu leaders in other parts of the Tarai to account for E-Mail: [email protected] Tharu origins. From their perspective, Tharus are the vic­ tims of both Hindu and Muslim civilization. This discourse The image of Vishnu Anantashayana ("Vishnu-reclin­ is widely known and accepted in the leading Tharu ethnic ing-on-the-serpent-Shesha") is widely known throughout association, the Tharu Kalyankarini Sabha. This pl;lper dis­ India. Jalashayana, sometimes also called Sheshashayi cusses the views of two of the first and most articulate pro­ Narayana and Anantanarayana, is found in a unique set­ ponents of thi s thesis, Ramanand Prasad Singh of Saptari ting and context in the Kathmandu Valley. Of the four large and Tej Narayan Panjiar of Udayapur. Other Tharus, while reclining Jalashayana images known from Nepal, two are not claiming to be Buddhists, are nevertheless sympathetic currently situated within large water tanks at sites that are to these ideas because of the prestige that attaches to the actively visited and widely venerated-Balanilakhantha notion of being descendants of the Buddha. and Budhanilakhantha. Mary Slusser and Gautamavajra CONFERENCE DIGEST 71 Vajracharya have worked ex tensively on the dating, com­ Ti betans themselves have la rgely turned a blind eye to the mi ssioning, iconographic, and political implications of these ways that Indi a and Indians are integral to any understand­ works . In concert with these sign ifi cant contributi ons, I ing of contemporary Tibetan culture or identity in exi le. propose that an ethno-reli gious and culturall y specific ex­ The anti-assimilationist rhetoric of Tibetan refugees in planation for the commission of these unique and rare forms South Asia is, however, compli cated by their widespread rests in th e creation myth of the va ll ey, whi ch was once a enthusiasm for Hindi fi lms, cu ltu ra l objects whose power lake. as agents of escapist fantasy, role-modelin g and social ca­ tharsis has been well studi ed. Some Tibetans perceive the "Hindi film craze" in the refugee community as a signifi ­ PANEL: LOCATING