The Hindu Pantheon in Nepalese Line Drawings : Two Manuscripts of the Pratisthalaksanasarasamuccaya/compiled by Gudrun Buhnemann. New Delhi, Indica Books, 2003, 167 p., illus., ISBN 81-86569-47-2.

    Contents: Preface. I. The Pratisthalaksanasarasamuccaya: 1. The Pratisthalaksanasarasamuccaya, its author and date. 2. The contents of the Pratisthalaksanasarasamuccaya. II. The Line Drawings: 1. General remarks. 2. The appendix depicting of sixty-four Yoginis according to the Devi-Purana. 3. The iconographic features of the deities. 4. Tables of specific features of the deities. III. Bibliography and abbreviations. IV. Index of deities' names. V. Reproduction of the two sets of line drawings (manuscripts 4.331 and 1.1314). VI. The text of chapter 6 of the Pratisthalaksanasarasamuccaya (from the printed edition).

    "This book reproduces line drawings of the pantheon of deities described in chapter 6 of the Pratisthalaksanasarasamuccaya from two 17-century Nepalese manuscripts. Drawings of the 64 Yoginis according to the Devi-Purana found in an appendix to both manuscripts are also reproduced. The line drawings from Nepal should prove to be of great importance to the study of Hindu iconography. Comprehensive and almost complete sets of illustrations of pantheons such as this one are rarely found.

    In addition to the line drawings, this volume reproduces the Sanskrit text of chapter 6 of the period edition of the Pratisthalaksanasarasamuccaya (published in Kathmandu in 1966), which is not easily accessible.

    The Pratisthalaksanasarasamuccaya, also called Laksanasarasamuccaya, Laksanasamgraha and Laksanasamuccaya, is a text of the 11 or 12 century and is attributed to Vairocana. It is a work on the construction and installation of lingas compiled from various Agamas. The present book discusses its authorship and date, the contents of its individual chapters, and analyses in detail the iconographic features of the deities described in chapter 6."

Return to Books on Nepal