The true meaning of Tantra

ome exhibitions don’t need much in the way of explanation to draw the crowds. The British Museum – on the other hand – is about to tackle a subject that’s been at the heart, brings together objects from India, Tibet, Japan and beyond (including a Bengali depiction of the Goddess Kali, pictured here), to explore the diverse ways that Tantric philosophy changed the practice of Hinduism and Buddhism, and even came to shape 1960s counter-culture. Kali herself embodies much of the mystery of Tantra: often cloaked in violent imagery, yet also worshipped as a symbol of maternal love, and more recently seen through a feminist lens.