The 1875–1878 Theosophical reports from Ceylon

Record summary

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott’s visits to Ceylon generated reports about Buddhist revival, occult instruction, spiritual powers and encounters with religious authorities. The episode matters for tracing how South Asian Buddhist practices were reframed within Western esotericism and later psi discourse. Contemporary Theosophical publications, Buddhist accounts and colonial newspapers offer competing perspectives. The relevant question is transmission and interpretation, not whether reported powers occurred. Researchers should distinguish Olcott’s documented activities from later legends about hidden masters.