Tantra

This beautifully illustrated book accompanies an exquisite exhibition of 70 tantric, Jain and related objects, paintings, manuscripts and drawings. In as far as the Indian term 'tantrism' is known in the West, it is generally linked with mystery and mysticism as well as with sex, magic and hocus-pocus. Indeed, tantrism is connected with all these and even more, as Jan van Alphen, chief curator of the BOZAR in Brussels, discusses in the introductory essay to the catalogue. Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Jainism, Vajrayana, Bonpo, Ayurveda and Shamanism are some of the philosophies, religions and sciences that were somehow influenced by tantrism. A highlight of the exhibition is the beautiful 19th-century Rajasthani painting in gouache and gold pigment on cloth, Cosmic Manifestation of Vishnu (Vasudeva).