Wrapped in innumerable myths and legends, Nepal is a land of magic and mystery. The confrontation between its millions of gods and goddesses on the one hand and the most powerful demons on the other, at various points gives a meaningful perspective to this magic and mystery. The former represents positive spirits, and the latter negative ones. Somewhere between the two stands the faith-healer, almost like a catalyst, who, with his invocation and possession of positive spirits (white magic) manages to drive away the negative spirits (black magic) inflicted on his clients.

The cult of faith-healing in Nepal dates back to pre-historic times, with the The Jhankris are shamans, who, with the garlands of tiny bells around their necks tremble and chant at the beat of the drum which they play during the invocation and possession of spirits, and sometimes their elaborate performance runs for the whole night. Often their ritual also involves sacrifice of either a rooster or a black goat depending upon the nature of the complication. The others are incredibly simple people, a broomstick, some grains of husked rice, a pinch of ash, incense sticks and a couple of spoonfuls of water, charged with tantric spirits is all they need to come out with a miracle.

India witnessed its great tantric period between the 7th and 13th centuries. The visit of Padmansambhaba, the great In- dian spiritual master, to Tibet during the 8th century, his tantric encounters with his Tibetan counterparts in the process of introducing his own brand of Buddhism in Tibet, and the subsequent visit of Atisha, the Indian Buddhist scholar during the 13th century bears ample evidence. Then came the Mugal invasion in India which was responsible for the re-emergence of the tantric cult both in Nepal and Tibet. While in Nepal, it fell into the hands of Gubhajus who came from the highest priestly class of the Newar community, in Tibet it was the Lamas from the monasteries who had access to this cult. This is how over the centuries, tantrism has succeeded in becoming an integral part of faith healing both in Nepal and Tibet.

Tantrism does have its intricate features, where it means many things to many people. For the common people vajra and dorje in Tantrism signify a mere curative ritual, however for the spiritual grand masters it has also been a path to liberation and enlightenment.