93 – Mantras: Transcultural and Multisensory Perspectives

October 1, 2025
1:45 pm
H06
This panel delves into the multifaceted world of mantras, emphasizing their significance as sacred utterances used in rituals, prayers, contemplation, and wellness practices. Originating in southern Asia, mantras have played pivotal roles in rites, meditation, worship, and healing traditions spanning millennia. The research explores the materiality and performative aspects of mantras, examining their roles in healing and magical practices across cultures. Central to our investigation are questions about how mantras function through various sensory modalities and the kinesthetic elements that enhance their transformative potential. Our interdisciplinary approach considers mantras not merely as linguistic constructs but as dynamic, multimodal experiences expressed through manuscripts, stones, voice, meditation, movement, amulets, tattoos, aroma, and attire. This panel features contributions from scholars in anthropology, religious studies, history, and digital humanities, drawing insights from ongoing research initiatives such as the MANTRAMS project. Discussions encompass the global dissemination of mantras through diasporic networks, new religious movements, and digital platforms, highlighting their enduring significance in traditional and modern contexts.

Convenor

Larios Borayin

Presentations

Mantras and the construction of sectarian boundaries
Voix Raphael - CNRS, EHESS, Paris, France
The Worship of the Goddess Manasā: Healing and Praising through Mantras
Tozzi Ludovica - Sapienza University of Rome, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
The meaning of mantra in Vedic prose
Sojkova Barbora - Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Mahāvaiśvadeva-śastra in the Agniṣṭoma and mantras of ritual misdirection
Smith Frederick m - University of Iowa, Unversity of Iowa, Iowa CIty, United States
Words for “Sound” and Concepts of the Sonic in Early India, I: Vedic Prose Texts
Moore Gerety Finnian - Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
The English Mantras of Master C.V.V. and The Politics of Language in the Indian “New Age”
Maini Shreya - Duke University, Duke University, Durham, United States
The Possible South Asian Roots of the Rosary
Haas Dominik - Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
Mantras and Scientific Affirmations: The Relationship Between Yoga in the United States and Positive Thinking
Deslippe Philip - Department of Religious Studies, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, United States
A preliminary overview of the text amulet entitled Śivakavaca
Amandine Wattelier-Bricout - CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre d'études sud-asiatiques et himalayennes, Aubervilliers, France
Visual Expressions of Mantras in North Indian Vaiṣṇava Traditions
Bühnemann Gudrun - University of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States
Skibidi Mantras: Viral Magic, Digital Rituals, and the Playful Evolution of Sacred Sound
Larios Borayin - Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, Universität Wien, Wien, Austria