Receptacle of the Sacred: Illustrated Manuscripts and the Buddhist Book Cult in South Asia

— —

Jinah Kim

Receptacle of the Sacred

Illustrated Manuscripts and the Buddhist Book Cult in South Asia

Jinah Kim

$140.95

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

University of California Press
12 April 2013

Social & cultural anthropology; Lettering & calligraphy

Series: South Asia Across the Disciplines

"In 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."

By: Jinah Kim
Imprint: University of California Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 28mm
Weight: 907g
ISBN: 9780520273863
ISBN 10: 0520273869
Series: South Asia Across the Disciplines
Pages: 432
Publication Date: 12 April 2013
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Jinah Kim is Assistant Professor of History of Art & Architecture at Harvard University.

Reviews for Receptacle of the Sacred: Illustrated Manuscripts and the Buddhist Book Cult in South Asia

This book is of great value for graduate courses on Buddhist material culture, art historical methodology, or esoteric Buddhism. -- Purvi Parikh Religious Studies Review