In Tribute to Madhu Khanna

[Guest guest]

I'm something of a fan of Dr. Madhu Khanna, who wrote the article I

posted above, entitled "Feminizing Divinity." And so -- at the off-

board urging and encouragement of an honored member and friend,

Sister Usha Devi, I thought I'd give the amazing Dr. Khanna a bit of

free publicity:

 

Madhu Khanna, who is based in New Delhi, is a Srividya initiate and

founding member of the Tantra Foundation in New Delhi. She received

her Ph.D. from Oxford in Indian Religion, and her Masters in Sanskrit

from London University. She has some 30 years' experience teaching,

researching and carrying out projects on Indian Art, Culture,

Religion, Medicine, Architecture and Painting.

 

Madhu Khanna is a writer very much worth reading. She has authored

and co-authored a number of books such as "Yantra" (forthcoming in

paperback this October), and the "The Tantric Way" (a classic from

1977, recently reissued in paperback; I'm going to add it to the

Shakti Sadhana booklist at Amazon.com). I've also read a few of her

essays in compilations and scholarly journals -- they're worth

seeking out; what a wonderful thinker! For a few years now, I've been

hearing that her masterwork, provisionally titled, "Sricakra of the

Cult of Goddess Tripurasundari," will be published soon.

 

She is an Associate Professor at the Indira Gandhi National Centre

for the Arts, New Delhi. A decade ago, she was awarded the Homi

Bhabha Fellowship (1991-1993) for her project on Goddess Ecology in

India (After this intro, I'll post a teaser and link to one of her

papers on that project; it's a fascinating read). Dr. Khanna is a

founder and trustee (along with her daughter, Devika, I believe?) of

India Watch, an organization devoted to the political, economic and

social improvement of te country. She is presently said to be working

on a large project about the holy city of Benaras (Varanasi),

called "The Crossing" -- but I have no idea what that involves.

 

So ... we at Shakti Sadhana honor Madhu Khanna, an accomplished

Shakta, first-rate scholar, and a woman dedicated to improving both

her homeland and the larger world. I hope our paths cross one of

these days!

 

Aum Maatangyai Namahe