Women and Monastic Buddhism in Early South Asia: Rediscovering the Invisible Believers

This book explores the sociocultural foundations of Buddhism through the lens of gender, highlighting the roles of women as patrons, practitioners, lay and monastic members, and reassessing historical data to understand Buddhism's development and flourishing in South Asia. It draws on archaeological, epigraphic, art historical, literary, and ethnographic data to assess the presence of women within the monastic circles and highlights their varied roles.

Format: Hardback
Length: 280 pages
Publication date: 31 March 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This groundbreaking book offers a fresh perspective on gender within the sociocultural foundations of Buddhism, challenging the dominant discourse that treats women as a singular, homogeneous category, thereby rendering them invisible within the broader religious discourse. By examining their sustained role in the larger context of South Asian Buddhism, the monograph reaffirms the agency of women and highlights their diverse roles as patrons, practitioners, lay members, and monastic members. The volume delves into the individual experiences of its members, exploring their equations and relationships at various levels, including with the broader Samgha, their respective Bhikṣu or Bhikṣunī Samgha, the laity, and members of the same gender (both lay and monastic). It reinterprets, reconfigures, and reassesses historical data to gain a new understanding of Buddhism and the social matrix within which it developed and flourished.

In this revised edition, the book incorporates recent archaeological findings from ancient Buddhist sites in Sri Lanka and ethnographic data from convents in Spiti valley, India. It assesses the applicability of the working model formulated for identifying gendered structures in India to sites across South Asia and highlights the presence of women in varied roles within the monastic circles. By bringing together archaeological, epigraphic, art historical, literary, and ethnographic data, this comprehensive volume appeals to researchers and scholars in Buddhism, gender studies, ancient Indian history, religion, and South Asian studies.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032156187
Edition number: 2 ed