A distinctive aspect of Hindu devotion is the veneration of a human guru, who is not only an exemplar and a teacher but is also understood to be an embodiment of the divine. Historically, the role of guru in the public domain has been exclusive to men. The new visibility of female gurus in India and the U.S. today, and indeed across the globe, has inspired this first-ever scholarly study of the origins, variety, and worldwide popularity of Hindu female gurus. In the Introduction, Karen Pechilis examines the historical emergence of Hindu female gurus with reference to the Hindu philosophy of the self, women spiritual exemplars as wives and saints, Tantric worship of the Goddess, and the internationalization of gurus in the U.S. in the twentieth century. Nine essays profile specific female gurus, presenting biographies of these remarkable women while highlighting overarching issues and themes concerning women's status as religious leaders; these themes are nuanced in the afterword to the volume. The essays explore how Hindu female gurus embody grace in both senses--as a feminine ideal and an attribute of the divine-and argue that their status as leaders is grounded in their negotiation of these two types of grace. This book provides biographical profiles of the following female gurus plus sensitive scholarly analysis of their spiritual paths: Ammachi, Anandamayi Ma, Gauri Ma, Gurumayi, Jayashri Ma, Karunamayi Ma, Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati, Mother Meera, Shree Maa and Sita Devi.

In March 1990, sixteen-year-old Siddhartha Gigoo is forced to flee his home in Safa Kadal, Srinagar, Kashmir. The preceding days have been full of fear and horror for the Gigoos, who have seen friends and neighbours killed outside their homes. They could be next if they don’t leave. But they want to stay on, even when faced with a looming threat to their lives. Siddhartha thinks his leaving is temporary and that he will be back home soon. Little does he know that his fate is sealed. What follows is a long, dark time—a ‘camp’ existence and a struggle for survival. Thirty-four years on, Siddhartha chronicles the story of his flight from Kashmir and an entire youth spent in exile. A meditation on the nature of memory, A Long Season of Ashes is a book about a boy’s journey of self-discovery.

Contents: Introduction, Sikhism, The Development of Sikhism As a Distinct Religion, Sikh Tradition: Competing Organisations and Ideology, The Sikh Gurus, The Religion and Social Organisation of the Sikhs, Women in Sikhism, Gender and the Sikh Panth, Sikh Code of Conduct, The Concept of Hukam in Sikhism and Religious Experience, Sikh Politics in India, Unity of God The Sikh Point of View, Sikh Saints, Sikhism and Other Religious, Sikhism in the 21st Century.

This work examines the social reality of a Hindu woman's involvement in the transmission of religious knowledge. The two-year ethnographic study traces the steps of Dalit women in an urban village in New Delhi, India, in which Dr. Yim explores the mother's role in life cycle rituals, festivals, vrats (ritual fasts), and daily life. In this study, Yim attempts to bridge the gap between the word of religious texts and the reality of the women's lives. Despite the tradition of religious texts to overlook the role of women as teachers, this study found that women are the primary agents of religious knowledge transmission. The Dalit women in this study convey their erudition through informal education, such as observation; worship; imitation; and family responsibilities. The implications of this study are not only to validate informal education as an effective means of teaching, but to confirm the central role Hindu women have in the transmission of religious knowledge to their children.