Evolution and Present Dynamics of Conflicting Religious Cosmologies in East Tibet

The project concentrates on the evolution and present dynamics of two conflicting religious cosmologies in East Tibet: the Tibetan indigenous religious notions inherently tied to landscape and mountain deities' cults, and Buddhism as an incoming religious system from India. Anna Sehnalova explores these interactions via a case study, taking the example of the sacred mountain of Nyanpo Yutse (gNyan po g.yu rtse) in East Tibet in the region historically called Golog (mGo log). She intends to show how such an inter-religious meeting manifests not only in people's religious thought and practices, but also in broader social and political constellations. Concepts such as social and legal authority, political rulership and social organisation, genealogies and lineages of descent and power, identity, as well as the so called "treasure traditions" (gter, gter ma), are all found in action within the rich interplay of this specific inter-religious encounter.