Everyone Drinks from the Same Well: Charismatic Female Gurus as Religious Feminist Influencers in South Asian Hinduism

This article examines the emergent leadership of two female gurus in South Asia who have declared their status as S´an˙ kara¯ca¯rya¯s (i.e., heads of monastic institutions) based on revelatory experiences. They have done this in order to change patriarchal monastic (akh¯ar. ¯a) culture and challenge entrenched ideas of women’s inferiority in Hindu society. Their self-declarations as S´an˙ kara¯ca¯rya¯s profoundly break the conventional patriarchal mold for the type of guru women can be and the kind of authorized religious power they can have in this male-dominated role; thus, in term these gurus as “religious feminist influencers”. By “performing [these] revelation[s],” they construct alternative ways of practicing Hinduism, defined around modernist ideals such as gender equality, inclusion, and women’s rights.