Contents

 

 

 

 

 

List of Illustrations

 

Preface and Acknowledgments

 

List of Abbreviations

 

 

Introduction: Diagnosing the “Disease” of Tantra

 

1.  The Golden Age of the Vedas and the Dark Age of Kālī: Tantrism, Orientalism, and the Bengal Renaissance

2.  Sacrificing White Goats to the Goddess: Tantra and Political Violence in Colonial India

3.  India’s Darkest Heart: Tantra in the Literary Imagination

4.  Deodorized Tantra: Sex, Scandal, Secrecy, and Censorship in the Works of John Woodroffe and Swami Vivekananda

5.  Religion for the Age of Darkness: Tantra and the History of Religions in the Twentieth Century

6.  The Cult of Ecstasy: Meldings of East and West in a New Age of Tantra

 

Conclusion: Reimagining Tantra in Contemporary Discourse

 

 

Notes

 

Bibliography

 

Index