The MANTRAMS Project: Mantras in Religion, Media, and Society in Global Southern Asia
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In this episode of New Books in Indian Religions, host Dr. Raj Balcaran welcomes Dr. Carola Loria, Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Tübingen, to discuss the ERC-funded Mantrams Project—Mantras in Religion, Media and Society in Global Southern Asia. This six-year, interdisciplinary synergy project brings together over 40 scholars from diverse fields including philology, sonic ethnography, digital humanities, and material culture to study mantras not just as religious texts but as living, global phenomena. The project challenges academic silos by fostering collaboration across disciplines and traditions, emphasizing the embodied, sonic, and performative dimensions of mantra practice. Dr. Loria highlights the project’s innovative structure, including monthly online reading groups, an upcoming workshop on sonic efficacy in Singapore, and the development of a public-facing digital archive called Omnibus. The conversation also explores the historical transmission of mantras through often-overlooked figures—women, healers, drummers—and the growing global interest in mantra practice among Western seekers, underscoring both the spiritual and social functions of sacred sound across time and space.
The Mantrams Project is a groundbreaking, interdisciplinary ERC-funded initiative uniting over 40 scholars to study mantras as global, embodied phenomena beyond traditional textual analysis.
Mantras are not just religious texts—they are living practices with transformative effects on body, mind, and society, used across diverse traditions and even in secular contexts.
The project emphasizes sonic ethnography, embodied research, and cross-disciplinary collaboration to overcome academic silos and study mantras in their full sensory and cultural complexity.
A major output is the interactive digital archive 'Omnibus,' designed to be accessible, multilingual, and community-informed, with a public launch coming soon.
Transmission of mantric knowledge has historically involved marginalized figures—women, healers, shamans—whose roles are now being recognized as central to the tradition’s continuity.
…and 2 more takeaways available in PodZeus
Audience Survey & Podcast Introduction
The episode begins with a brief announcement for the 2026 NewBooks Network audience survey, encouraging listeners to participate for a chance to win a $100 gift card and help shape the future of the network.
Introducing the Mantrams Project
“It's the first large-scale project entirely dedicated to the study of mantras and sacred sound as rooted in South Asia and extending all around the globe.”
Scope and Structure of the Project
Dr. Loria details the project’s scale—over 40 scholars across three research groups focused on textual/historical, sonic/ethnographic, and material/digital approaches—and its goal to bridge fragmented academic disciplines.
Collaborative Methodology and Public Engagement
“We have monthly mantras reading groups... you can stay up to date and receive notifications about these kinds of events that are really open to anyone who wants to engage or is curious about the project.”
Transmission, Embodiment, and Global Reach
“There's so much there that's really rich. It's great that you mentioned all these aspects, these dimensions that really can only come out with embodied and practice-led research.”
“What is a mantra where? and when, and in which community, and in which language.”
“Mantra studies from approaches based on pragmatics, rhetoric, semiotics, performance theory of linguistics, speech acts. But is mantra really language and speech? Isn't it something so multisensory and multimedia?”
“It's the first large-scale project entirely dedicated to the study of mantras and sacred sound as rooted in South Asia and extending all around the globe.”
Host
Guest
ERC Mantrams Project
organization
Dr. Carola Loria
person
Dr. Raj Balcaran
person
New Books Network
organization
University of Tübingen
organization
Mantrams.eu
product
Omnibus
other
Vedic Chanting
other
Tübingen
place
Kirtan
other
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