Issued as part of UPCC book collections on Project MUSE.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 399-440) and index.

1. Introduction : Esoteric Buddhist networks along the maritime silk routes, 7th–13th century AD / Andrea Acri -- part I. Monks, texts, patrons -- 2. Coronation and liberation according to a Javanese monk in China : Bianhong's Manual on the abhi{dotb}seka of a cakravartin / Iain Sinclair -- 3. Sa{dot}n Hya{dot}n Kamah{macr}ay{macr}anikan, Borobudur, and the origins of Esoteric Buddhism in Indonesia / Hudaya Kandahjaya -- 4. Traces of Indonesian influences in Tibet / Jan A. Schoterman -- 5. The politics of Esoteric Buddhism : Amoghavajra and the Tang State / Geoffrey Goble -- 6. (Spi)ritual warfare in 13th-century Asia? International relations, the balance of powers, and the Tantric Buddhism of K{dotb}rtanagara and Khubilai Khan / David Bade -- part II. Art, architecture, and material culture -- 7. Images of devotion and power in south and southeast Bengal / Claudine Bautze-Picron -- 8. Borobudur's P{macr}ala forebear? A field note from Kesariya, Bihar, India / Swati Chemburkar -- 9. Imagery, ritual, and ideology : examining the Mah{macr}avih{macr}ara at Ratnagiri / Natasha Reichle -- 10. Seeds of Vajrabodhi : Buddhist ritual bronzes from Java and Khorat / Peter D. Sharrock & Emma C. Bunker -- 11. Archaeological evidence for Esoteric Buddhism in Sumatra, 7th to 13th century / John Miksic -- 12. The Tale of Sudhana and Manohar{macr}a on Candi Jago : an interpretation of a series of narrative bas-reliefs on a 13th-century East Javanese monument / Kate O'Brien -- part III. Bauddha-{acute}Saiva dynamics -- 13. Once more on the ‘Ratu Boko mantra' : magic, realpolitik, and Bauddha-{acute}Saiva dynamics in ancient Nusantara / Andrea Acri -- 14. Mid-9th-century adversity for Sinhalese Esoteric Buddhist exemplars in Java : Lord Kumbhayoni and the ‘rag-wearer' Pa{dot}msuk{macr}ulika monks of the Abhayagirivih{macr}ara / Jeffrey R. Sundberg -- 15. A {acute}Saiva text in Chinese garb? An annotated translation of the Suji liyan Moxishouluo tian shuo aweishe fa / Rolf W. Giebel -- Appendix A. The names of N{macr}agabuddhi and Vajrabuddhi / Iain Sinclair -- Appendix B. Notes on the alleged reading v{macr}alaputra on the Pikatan funeral stele / Jeffrey R. Sundberg.

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This volume advocates a trans-regional, and maritime-focused, approach to studying the genesis, development and circulation of Esoteric (or Tantric) Buddhism across Maritime Asia from the seventh to the thirteenth centuries AD. The book lays emphasis on the mobile networks of human agents ('Masters'), textual sources ('Texts') and images ('Icons') through which Esoteric Buddhist traditions spread. Capitalising on recent research and making use of both disciplinary and area-focused perspectives, this book highlights the role played by Esoteric Buddhist maritime networks in shaping intra-Asian connectivity. In doing so, it reveals the limits of a historiography that is premised on land-based transmission of Buddhism from a South Asian 'homeland', and advances an alternative historical narrative that overturns the popular perception regarding Southeast Asia as a 'periphery' that passively received overseas influences. Thus, a strong point is made for the appreciation of the region as both a crossroads and rightful terminus of Buddhist cults, and for the re-evaluation of the creative and transformative force of Southeast Asian agents in the transmission of Esoteric Buddhism across mediaeval Asia.

Description based on print version record.