Yogis, Ayurveda, and Kayakalpa: The Rejuvenation of Pandit Malaviya

How should we read claims about health and well-being which defy common sense? Are claims of extreme longevity to be viewed as fraudulent, or as pushing the boundaries of possibility for the human body? This article will consider the narrative and context around a particularly well-publicized incident of rejuvenation therapy, advertised as kāyakalpa (body transformation or rejuvenation), from 1938. In this year, the prominent Congress Activist and co-founder of Banaras Hindu University, Madan Mohan Malaviya (1861–1946), underwent an extreme – and very public – rejuvenation treatment under the care of a sadhu using the name of Shriman Tapasviji (c.1770?-1955). The first half of the article will explore the presentation of Malaviya’s treatment and how it inspired a focus on rejuvenation therapy within Indian medicine in the years immediately following. Exploring this mid-twentieth century incident highlight some of the themes and concerns of the historical period, just out of living memory, but in many ways similar to our own

Guest Editorial for a Special Issue of Religions of South Asia: Yoga Darśana, Yoga Sādhana: traditions, transmissions and transformations

This special issue of Religions of South Asia is born out of this expanding area of study and collaboration between contemporary practitioners and established academic methods of study. Most of the articles in this volume were first presented at an international ‘Yoga Darśana, Yoga Sādhana’ conference hosted in Kraków, Poland in May 2016. The Krakow conference was initiated by Matylda Ciołkosz and Robert Czyżykowski of the Institute for the Study of Religions, Jagiellonian University and was co-sponsored by the Modern Yoga Research network established by Elizabeth de Michelis, with the help of Mark Singleton and Suzanne Newcombe

Transmutations: Rejuvenation, Longevity, and Immortality Practices in South and Inner Asia

Introduction to Special Issue of Edited Journal - Transmutations: Rejuvenation, Longevity, and Immortality Practices in South and Inner Asia Wild and diverse outcomes are associated with transmutational practices: the prolongation of life, the recovery of youth, the cure of diseases, invincibility, immortality, enlightenment, liberation from the cycle of rebirths, and unending bliss. This range of outcomes is linked to specific practices taught in separate traditions and lineages in medical, alchemical, yogic and tantric milieus across South and Inner Asia. In this special issue of HSSA, we examine transmutational practices and their underlying concepts in the wider context of South and Inner Asian culture. How do these practices and ideas connect and cross-fertilise? And conversely, how are they delineated and distinct

The Revival of Yoga in Contemporary India

The word yoga refers to a multi-faceted array of beliefs and practices. Yoga is twined with sāṃkhya as one of the six orthodox darshanas (worldviews) of Hindu philosophy, having been codified by around 400CE. A distinct body of texts known as the haṭhayoga corpus appears around the eleventh century and emphasizes physical practices most likely used by ascetic communities. The ultimate aim of yoga is described by various words (e.g., kaivalya, samādhi, mokṣa, etc.); it is often described as an experience of an individual soul’s uniting with the divine, and/or becoming liberated from the material world. These historical precedents have continuities with contemporary yoga practices and for many Indians today, yoga is understood as the essence of Indian spirituality. However, yoga took on new meanings in the late colonial period, becoming a mental, physical and ethical discipline to aid in the struggle for an independent Indian nation state; a scientific, evidence-based practice to improve health and wellbeing; and template for the evolution of an individual as well as humanity as a whole. At the same time yoga kept an association with liberation and the realization of the ultimate nature of reality. In the early twenty-first century, all these meanings are current in the Indian context, where yoga is continuing to experience a revival. Today in India, yoga is understood as a unique and valuable cultural resource which has the potential both to revitalize an individual’s health and the Indian nation-state, being an exemplar of the unique insights Indian traditions can give to the rest of the world. Despite a notable shift in what is understood by yoga in the modern period, yoga continues to be a multivalent and increasingly popular practice in contemporary India

Yoga and meditation as a health intervention

Yoga and meditation have been increasingly promoted as healthcare interventions by the Indian government. This chapter will argue that one distinct feature of yoga and meditation as a therapeutic intervention in India is how meditation is subsumed into a ‘yogic’ intervention rather than being presented as a secular one. It will briefly outline some of the historical entanglements between yoga, meditation and other forms of indigenous medical systems (IMS) of the subcontinent and briefly explore the contemporary popularity and accessibility of yoga and meditation as a health intervention in contemporary India

Chapter 1 Reframing Yoga and Meditation Studies

The Routledge Handbook of Yoga and Meditation Studies is a comprehensive and interdisciplinary resource, which frames and contextualises the rapidly expanding fields that explore yoga and meditative techniques. The book analyses yoga and meditation studies in a variety of religious, historical and geographical settings. The chapters, authored by an international set of experts, are laid out across five sections

"Trust Me, You Can't Trust Them": Stigmatised Knowledge in Cults and Conspiracies

This chapter will explore the sociology of conspiracy theory in areas of the contemporary cultic milieu, identifying rational social reasons for allegiance to a particular theory as often being more compelling for individuals than the apparent ‘empirical’ truth or falsity of the theory itself

Gender and Contemporary Millennial Movements

Themes of gender have not been a major feature in the academic study of millennial movements. However, the diversity and potential disruptive significance of contemporary millennial movements suggest that this scholarly oversight may be worth reconsidering, particularly in light of the contemporary emphasis on critical theory and intersectionality. Therefore, this article will first broadly survey reflections on the dynamics of gender and religion in the study of contemporary religiosity before detailing a few examples of literature that deals explicitly with gender and millenarian movements

Guest Editorial

This special issue of Religions of South Asia is born out of this expanding area of study and collaboration between contemporary practitioners and established academic methods of study. Most of articles in this volume were first presented at an international ‘Yoga Darśana, Yoga Sādhana’ conference hosted in Kraków, Poland in May 2016. The Krakow conference was initiated by Matylda Ciołkosz and Robert Czyżykowski of the Institute for the Study of Religions, Jagiellonian University and was co-sponsored by the Modern Yoga Research network established by Elizabeth de Michelis, with the help of Mark Singleton and Suzanne Newcombe