Theravada Revivalism in Nepal: Reflections on the Early Years

Abstract

This chapter examines the introduction of Theravada Buddhism into the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, between the 1920s and 1940s. The broad sociological contrasts between Theravada, on the one side, and the Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism traditionally followed by the Newars of the Kathmandu Valley, on the other, are described, as is the social context of Newar Buddhism and the varying appeal of the new form of Buddhism to different castes.