Sacred Feminine: An analytical study of Mother Meera Movement in Contemporary Hinduism

Abstract

This article deals with the issue of sacred feminine in general and then in contemporary Hinduism specifically. The researchers study this issue by analyzing the ideology and religious ideas of a female spiritual leader of contemporary Hinduism, Mother Meera. Her real name is Kamala Reddy. She belongs to a pure Hindu background and claims to be an avatar of this era. She became famous with the name of Mother Meera among her followers. The research article is an analytical study of her claim of being an avatar and a religious/spiritual leader. The researchers have discussed the issue of defining the phenomenon of sacred feminine at first and then its historical background in Hinduism. It also gives a short life sketch of Mother Meera and further analyzes her claim as an avatar in the light of what is there in traditional teachings of Hinduism and to what extent this movement has applied the traditional concept of avatar. A description of her darshan, the way adopted by her to enlighten her visitors and devotees, is also given in the article. After these explanations, there is a brief critical analysis of Mother Meera’s ideology in relation to the phenomena of sacred feminine and some key departures that exist between this ideology and the traditional Hindu perspective.