1. Christopher Pinney and Kajri Jain mention these religious uses of photographs and prints respectively. See Pinney (1997) and Jain (2003). For a history of early printing in Calcutta at Ravi Varma's printing press outside of Mumbai see Mitter (2003), as well as Guha-Thakurta (1992).
2. Here I am thinking of the meditative uses of mandala paintings in Vajrayana Buddhism and the intended religious uses of many Nepalese and Tibetan thangkha paintings. Inthangkhapaintings, the Buddha, Bodhisattvas, saints, and monks are “enlivened” by mantras written phonetically in Tibetean script on the verso of the canvas. By preserving the precise sound of the mantras, the Tibetan phonemes secure the affect of the mantra, which in this case imbues the figure with “life.” That thesethangkhapaintings are covered with a cloth when not in religious use, and offerings are at times left beneath them, implies that they are considered “alive,” and cared for appropriately. For examples of these types of paintings see Pal (2003).
3. For an explication of darshan practices in Hinduism see Eck (1998).
4. Kajri Jain considers similar ritual uses of modern lithographs of Hindu deities in her article “More than meets the eye: The circulation of images and the embodiment of value” (Jain 2003).
5. For this process of imbuing a sculpted image with “life” as well as the subsequent “lives” of sculpted images see Davis (1997).