Kundalini’s modern transformation and its nationalistic politicisation
Key information
- Date
- Time
-
7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
- Venue
- SOAS Centre of Yoga Studies
- Room
- Online
- Event type
- Webinar
About this event
SOAS Centre of Yoga Studies is delighted to host Dr Marleen Thaler of the University of Vienna to discuss the topic, 'Kundalini’s modern transformation and its nationalistic politicisation'.
This presentation will focus on kundalini, a Hindu tantric energy concept and goddess, and explore how it has evolved during the 19th and 20th centuries. A key part of kundalini’s modern transformation involves its reinterpretation as a vital component of Indian cultural heritage. The person who initiated this episode was the Indian author Gopi Krishna (1903–1984).
In his bestselling autobiography, Kundalini. The Evolutionary Energy in Man (1967), Krishna assessed kundalini as an evolutionary mechanism inherent within the physical body. As Krishna’s network of global collaborators expanded, Indian politicians and journalists sought to involve him in various research projects in India aimed at elucidating the esoteric nature of kundalini through scientific means. The Indian politician Karan Singh (b. 1931) emerged as India’s foremost supporter of Krishna’s ideas and research projects. Analysing their collaboration helps us understand the motivation of Hindu nationalists’ reclamation of kundalini.
Another notable example of kundalini’s nationalisation pertains to the 'Kundalini Yoga' series, which appeared in the Indian tabloid Blitz between April and May 1976. Published by Rustom K. Karanjia (1912–1998), the article series emphasized India’s leading role in kundalini research and played a pivotal role in disseminating knowledge of kundalini.
The aim of this presentation is twofold: first, to illuminate the role of Gopi Krishna in the modern history of kundalini’s transformation, and second, to shed light on his collaboration with Hindu nationalists, reflecting the nationalisation and political use of kundalini.
About the speaker
Marleen Thaler holds a PhD in Religious Studies (2024), along with additional degrees in Social and Cultural Anthropology and Oriental Studies, all from the University of Vienna. She has been a research fellow at ETH Zurich and UC Santa Barbara, CA, served as a scholar-in-residence at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA, and studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Currently, she is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Graz and is also employed at the University of Vienna’s research centre, 'Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society'.
Marleen has co-edited a volume on Subtle Energies (Brill, 2025), is currently finalising her monograph on John Michell’s Sacred Place Theory (Equinox Publishing, 2026), and is preparing to publish her dissertation on the modern history of kundalini’s transformation. Her main research interests include global religious history, the transformation of religion, the modern history of yoga, religion and technology, and religious traditionalism.
