Religious Authority in South Asia: Generating the Guru

This book focuses on genealogies of religious authority in South Asia, examining the figure of the guru in narrative texts, polemical tracts, hagiographies, histories, in contemporary devotional communities, New Age spiritual movements and global guru organizations..

István Keul is Professor in the Study of Religions at the University of Bergen, Norway. His areas of research include various aspects of the history and sociology of South Asian religions. He is the author of a monograph on the Hindu deity Hanuman and has edited volumes on tantra, Yoginis, Banaras and consecration rituals, and recently ＂Spaces of Religion in Urban South Asia＂ (2021, Routledge).

Srilata Raman is Professor of Hinduism in the Department for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto, Canada. Her monographs include Self-Surrender (Prapatti) to God in Śrīvaiṣṇavism (2007, Routledge) and The Transformation of Tamil Religion: Ramalinga Swamigal and Modern Dravidian Sainthood (2022, Routledge). In addition, she has co-authored two edited volumes and published numerous articles on Tamil religion with a special focus on Śrīvaiṣṇavism and the Tamil Śaivasiddhānta.□