Sravana Borkataky-Varma

Sravana Borkataky-Varma is a historian and educator. She is the Instructional Professor in the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Houston.[1] She is currently a Fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School.[2] She has previously taught at Harvard University, the University of North Carolina Wilmington, the University of Montana and Rice University.[3]

Sravana is a historian of South Asian religions specializing in Hindu traditions. She also has a master's degree in Buddhist Studies. Her work is largely centered on the Himalayas (mostly Assam) and West Bengal, India, where she focuses on transmissions of goddess esoteric traditions (Śākta Tantra) from a variety of lenses, everything from rituals to gender construction and digital religion.[4] She defines her research methodology as “both-and”: A blend of social anthropology “from the outside” with elements of reflexive autoethnography “from the inside.”

Early life and education

Borkataky-Varma was born in Assam, a state in India. She spent her formative years in the states of Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi. She underwent a three-stage initiation into the goddess Kāmākhyā lineage at the age of eight, and then at fifteen, she received the fourth stage of consecration (abhiṣeka).

Sravana received a bachelor’s degree in English Literature and a master’s degree in Buddhist Studies at Delhi University in India. She later earned her PhD from the Department of Religion at Rice University.[5]

Scholarship

Borkataky-Varma’s academic focus is on esoteric rituals and gender, particularly their role in Hindu traditions. Her scholarship includes books and journal articles on a range of related topics. The following is a selection of some of her most notable work.

Most recently, she co-edited the book "Religious Responses to Pandemics and Crises: Isolation, Survival, and #Covidchaos"[6] with Christian A. Eberhart and Marianne Bjelland Kartzow and the book “Living Folk Religions”[7] with Aaron Michael Ullrey, both of which were published by Routledge in 2023.

In 2022, she explored the world of Śākta Tantra, specifically fertility rituals, with her journal article "From the Fringes to the Center Stage: Hijṛās and Fertility Rituals in Kāmākhyā."

In 2018 she wrote an article for Religions titled “The Dead Speak: A Case Study from the Tiwa Tribe Highlighting the Hybrid World of Śākta Tantra in Assam.”[8]

Bibliography

Books and special issue journals edited
  • Living Folk Religions. edited with Aaron Michael Ullrey (New York,2023) ISBN 9781032190419
  • Introduction To The Special Issue: Digital Tantra: Introducing A New Research Field. International Journal of Hindu Studies (2022)[9]
  • Introduction To The Special Issue: Out For Blood: Sacrifice, Tantra, And Normative Hinduism. International Journal of Hindu Studies (2019)[10]

Book chapters and articles
  • * WhatsApp Bagalāmukhī: Experiences Deemed Religious.” The Ethnography of Tantra: Textures and Contexts of Living Tantric Traditions, SUNY (2023)[11]
  • From the Fringes to the Center Stage: Hijṛās and Fertility Rituals in Kāmākhyā. The Oxford Handbook of Tantric Studies, Oxford University Press (2022)
  • The Yogic Body in Global Transmission. The Handbook of Yoga and Meditation Studies, Routledge (2021)[12]
  • Taming Hindu Śakta Tantra on the Internet: Online Pūjās for the Goddess Tripurasundarī. Digital Hinduism, Routledge (2019)[13]
  • Red: An Ethnographic Study Of Cross-Pollination Between The Vedic And The Tantric. International Journal of Hindu Studies (2019)[14]
  • Menstruation: Pollutant to Potent. Hinduism and Tribal Religions (2018)[15]
  • The Dead Speak: A Case Study From The Tiwa Tribe Highlighting The Hybrid World Of Śākta Tantra In Assam. International Journal of Hindu Studies (2017)[16]
  • The Ancient Elusive Serpent In Modern Times. International Journal of Dharma Studies (2016)[17]

References
  1. "Sravana Borkataky-Varma | Comparative Cultural Studies Department | UH CLASS". University of Houston.
  2. "Current Affiliates". Harvard University.
  3. "RELI 232 001". Rice University.
  4. Bohlmann, Garrett (March 2, 2023). "The History, Traditions, and Meaning Behind Holi; Plus, The 2023 Rodeo Houston Gold Buckle Foodie Awards – Houston Public Media". Houston Public Media.
  5. "Education" (PDF). University of Houston. 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 13, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  6. Borkataky-Varma, Sravana; Eberhart, Christian; Kartzow, Marianne (2023). Religious Responses to Pandemics and Crises: Isolation, Survival, and #Covidchaos. Routledge. ISBN 9781032281223.
  7. Borkataky-Varma, Sravana; Ullrey, Aaron Michael (2023). Living Folk Religions. Routledge. ISBN 9781032190419.
  8. Borkataky-Varma, Sravana (2017). "The Dead Speak: A Case Study from the Tiwa Tribe Highlighting the Hybrid World of Śākta Tantra in Assam". Religions. 8 (221). doi:10.3390/rel8100221.
  9. Borkataky-Varma, Sravana; Zeiler, Xenia (2022). "Digital Tantra: Introducing a New Research Field". International Journal of Hindu Studies. 26: 155–159. doi:10.1007/s11407-022-09314-1.
  10. Borkataky-Varma, Sravana (June 21, 2019). "Introduction To The Special Issue: Out For Blood: Sacrifice, Tantra, And Normative Hinduism". International Journal of Hindu Studies. doi:10.1007/s11407-019-09256-1.
  11. Lorea, Carola; Singh, Rohit (2023). The Ethnography of Tantra: Textures and Contexts of Living Tantric Traditions. SUNY Press. ISBN 9781438494838.
  12. Routledge Handbook of Yoga and Meditation Studies. Routledge. 2021. ISBN 9780367557164.
  13. Zeiler, Xenia (2019). Digital Hinduism (1 ed.). Routledge. p. 21. ISBN 9781315107523.
  14. Borkataky-Varma, Sravana (June 21, 2019). "Red: An Ethnographic Study of Cross-Pollination between the Vedic and the Tantric". International Journal of Hindu Studies. doi:10.1007/s11407-019-09258-z.
  15. Jeffery, Long; Rita, Sherma; Pankaj, Jain; Madhu, Khanna (2022). Hinduism and Tribal Religions. Springer Nature. ISBN 9789402411874.
  16. Borkataky-Varma, Sravana (2017). "The Dead Speak: A Case Study from the Tiwa Tribe Highlighting the Hybrid World of Śākta Tantra in Assam". Religions. 8 (221). doi:10.3390/rel8100221.
  17. Borkataky-Varma, Sravana (2015). "The Ancient Elusive Serpent in Modern Times: The Practice of Kuṇḍalinī in Kāmākhyā". International Journal of Dharma Studies.
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