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A dhāraṇī for each day of the week: The saptavāra tradition of the Newar Buddhists*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2014

Gudrun Bühnemann
Gudrun Bühnemann*
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin-Madison
*
gbuhnema@wisc.edu
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Abstract

The paper discusses a group of dhāraṇīs associated with the seven days (saptavāra) of the week, with each dhāraṇī being recited on a specific day. The visual forms of the dhāraṇīs were represented in miniature paintings in manuscripts of the saptavāra texts and in woodcarvings on the struts of two Newar Buddhist monasteries in Kathmandu. The paper shows that even though two members of the saptavāra group were originally male, eventually all members came to be conceived of as feminine in Nepal. It further provides evidence that the group is likely to have become known in Nepal by at least the late sixteenth century.

Keywords

DhāraṇīSaptavāra, Newar Buddhism, GaṇapatihṛdayaVajravidāriṇīVajravidāraṇa
Type
Articles
Information
Bulletin of SOAS , Volume 77 , Issue 1 , February 2014 , pp. 119 - 136
Copyright
Copyright © SOAS, University of London 2014 

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Footnotes

*

Several sections of this paper draw on an earlier article (Bühnemann 2006) but the material has been thoroughly revised and updated. I would like to thank Gerd Mevissen for suggestions and Manik Bajracharya for providing a photograph. I would also like to thank Gerald Kozicz for helpful information.

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