In celebration of Dīpāvalī, Tripurā Tallikā is pleased to release Dr. Maciej Karasinski’s edition and English translation of the Bālādīkṣāpaddhati, a rare hitherto unpublished ritual manual sourced from original manuscripts that describe the process of initiation into the worship of the goddess Bālātripurasundarī in the Śrīvidyā tradition. The Bālādīkṣāpaddhati will be of immense interest to practitioners, devotees, scholars, and initiating gurus of the Śrīvidyā tradition.
Dr. Maciej Karasinski is a scholar specializing in the Śākta tantra traditions of Kerala and is currently pursuing his second Ph.D. in the Religious Studies Department at Stanford University. He recently published his first monograph, The Cultural Heritage of Śākta Tantric Communities in India: Goddesses and Magicians in the Holy Groves of Kerala (2026), in the Routledge Studies in Tantric Traditions series, and has authored numerous academic articles, several of which focus on Śrīvidyā tantra, including the following:
- The “Śrī Vidyā” entry in the Oxford Bibliographies in Hinduism (2025)
- The God Who Is Visible to All: Healing and Sun Worship in Śrīvidyā Tantra (2024)
- The Young Goddess Who Dances through the Ordinariness of Life—A Study on the Tantric Traditions of Kerala (2022)
- When the Poison Is the Cure—Healing and Embodiment in Contemporary Śrīvidyā Tantra of the Lalitāmbikā Temple (2021)
- A Goddess Who Unites and Empowers: Śrīvidyā as a Link Between Tantric Traditions of Modern Kerala—Some Considerations (2020)
We at Tripurā Tallikā are deeply grateful to Dr. Karasinski for his generosity, support, and belief in our mission and work and are overjoyed to be able to offer this rare ritual manual for the initiation into the worship of Bālātripurasundarī to the international community of Śrīvidyā practitioners and devotees. May it be auspicious.
