Tantra Art: Its Philosophy & Physics Hardcover – January 1, 1994

Beautiful images & indightful commentary on tantric philosophy

Wonderful

This review is for the Ravi Kumar (Switzerland) reprint of 1983: the English version in hardback.Mookerjee's book on Tantra art was first released in 1963 and has gone on to become a minor publishing hit, being reprinted in various formats over the years.This a magnificent piece of work: a large format hardback with 97 color plates (most of them full page) with intelligent and wide-ranging commentary on each image. With an introduction and an 8 page bibliography. Cloth over boards on glossy stock with a heavy dustjacket.This offers up art in the larger Tantra tradition: paintings, graphic works, sculptures and objects all spinning off from a broadly-defined sanskrit tradition of Tantra (weaving or weaving-in-continuity.) The result is a mind-bender that comments on all sorts of traditions in Eastern thought and art: Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain...One can approach this book as anthropological, philosophical, or as a book of pure art. (It certainly reminded me that abstract art certainly didn't start in Europe and America in the 20th century!)A rich and ambitious book.

Ajit Mookerjee's book Tantra Art is second hand in expression and essence. Although there is a nice collection of beautiful and ancient pictures, yet its purpose and project is self-defeating inits very nature. Author is more interested to make money than display any interest to discuss the existential aspect of tantra and its physics and philosophy. Eclectic information never assistthe emergence of soul in a work. Tawdry and trifling effort to broach a sublime subject matter in a very affected erudite manner, does not sound of sacredness rather it stinks as a niceperfume sprinkled on rotten egg. Some people are so stupid to tread a path which they are not competent to pursue.Hence end up making themselves foolhardy! This book "Tantra Art" is notworth its price of paper it is published on. Shame! What a travesty of Tantra and its Philosophy! I would rather recommend a " Cloud of Unknowing" or "Alice in Wonderland" as a companion on aperegrination to Sublime. I needed to be outspoken about it! Tantra Art: Its Philosophy & Physics