Another Neo-Hinduism? The Reception of Theosophy in the South Indian Journal the Siddhanta Deepika

Abstract

Colonialism, the Western encounter and modern science lead to reinterpretations of Indian identities. These reinterpretations are commonly subsumed under the term ‘Neo-Hinduism’ in studies on Indian religion. Different attempts to formulate a Hindu identity and to determine the core of this ‘religion’ resulted in manifold reform movements starting from the mid-nineteenth century, and to which the Theosophical Society exerted considerable influence. Recent scholarly accounts have paid attention to the intricate entanglement of reciprocal appropriation, differentiation, and exclusion in a global historical context. While there is abundant literature treating the connections of Theosophy and (neo-) Hinduism, the tradition of Tamil Saiva Siddhanta does not receive consideration from this perspective. In this article, I will show that there is a deliberate reception of Theosophy in the popular reformist Saivite journal Siddhanta Deepika that points to connections hitherto unexplored. This case study illustrates that modern theosophy was not only part of formulations of contemporary Saivite identity, but Shaiva Siddhanta itself must also be taken into account within the framework of the historical developments designated as ‘Neo-Hinduism’.