Remaking Buddhism for medieval Nepal : the fifteenth-century reformation of Newar Buddhism /

Abstract

This book establishes the existence, character and causes of a renaissance of Buddhism in the fifteenth century in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal. It provides the basis for the historical study of Newar Buddhism as one distinct tradition among the many that comprise Indic Buddhism and sheds new light on an important branch of Mahayana Buddhism. Using a particular Nepalese Sanskrit Buddhist text, the 'Gunakarandavyuha '(GKV) as the main source, the author shows that there is a distinctive genre of Buddhist Sanskrit texts to which the GKV belongs - the Garland texts - which dates to the middle of the fifteenth century. The Garland texts are the most visible evidence of a substantial and deliberate reformulation of Nepalese Buddhism. Through a thorough study of the relevant texts in the classical Himalayan languages (Sanskrit, Newari, Tibetan and Nepali) the author puts forward a new thesis about how the Newars legitimated and reinvented their tradition by devising new concepts of canonicity. 'Remaking Buddhism for Medieval Nepal' will be of interest to scholars of Religion, History and Asian Studies in general.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

This book establishes the existence, character and causes of a renaissance of Buddhism in the fifteenth century in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal. It provides the basis for the historical study of Newar Buddhism as one distinct tradition among the many that comprise Indic Buddhism and sheds new light on an important branch of Mahayana Buddhism. Using a particular Nepalese Sanskrit Buddhist text, the 'Gunakarandavyuha '(GKV) as the main source, the author shows that there is a distinctive genre of Buddhist Sanskrit texts to which the GKV belongs - the Garland texts - which dates to the middle of the fifteenth century. The Garland texts are the most visible evidence of a substantial and deliberate reformulation of Nepalese Buddhism. Through a thorough study of the relevant texts in the classical Himalayan languages (Sanskrit, Newari, Tibetan and Nepali) the author puts forward a new thesis about how the Newars legitimated and reinvented their tradition by devising new concepts of canonicity. 'Remaking Buddhism for Medieval Nepal' will be of interest to scholars of Religion, History and Asian Studies in general.