Instructional Assistant Professor
Comparative Cultural Studies
University of Houston

Office: Science & Research Building 2, 122F
Email: sborkataky-varma@uh.edu

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Biographical Summary

Sravana Borkataky-Varma specializes in South Asian religions, with a particular emphasis on Hindu practices. Her scholarly work investigates Indian religions and delves into topics such as esoteric rituals and bodily concepts especially in relation to Hindu śākta tantra traditions, often referred to as goddess tantra. She adopts a research methodology that blends social anthropology—examined from an outside perspective—with elements of reflexive autoethnography that reflect her personal experiences. As an educator, she holds the position of Instructional Assistant Professor at the University of Houston.

As a social entrepreneur, she is the co-founder of a nonprofit, Lumen Tree Portal. Sravana invests in building communities with individuals from various faith backgrounds who believe in kindness, compassion, and fulfillment. She is a Board of Trustee member for Esalen Institute and serves as an Advisory Board member for Compassionate Houston.

Research Interests

Hindu Traditions, Tantra, Rituals, and Bodies.

Publications

BOOKS

• The Serpent's Tale: Kuṇḍalinī and the History of an Experience, co-authored monograph with Anya Foxen (forthcoming, 2025)
• Embodied Pedagogy in the Study of Religions: Transforming the Classroom, co-edited volume with Sarabinh Levy-Brightman (forthcoming, 2025)
• Religious Responses to the Pandemic & Crises: Isolation, Survival, and #Covidchaos, co-edited volume with Christian A. Eberhart, and Marianne Bjelland Katrzow, 2024
• Living Folk Religions, co-edited volume with Aaron Michael Ullrey, 2023

BOOKS IN PROGRESS

• Divinized Divas: Superwomen, Wives, Partners, and Hijṛās in Hindu Goddess Tantra, monograph
• Altered, co-authored monograph with Anya Foxen

BOOK CHAPTERS

• 2026 (forthcoming): Hijṛās,” Oxford Bibliographies in Hinduism, Chief editor Prof. Tracy Coleman, Oxford University Press.
• 2026 (forthcoming): “Imaginal Siddhis, Engines of Insights,” in The Tantric World, edited by Anna A. Golovkova, Hillary Langberg, and Hugh B. Urban, Routledge Press.
• 2025 (forthcoming): “Arousing Pedagogy: Troubling the Scholar-Practitioner Model” in Embodied Pedagogies in the Study of Religions: Transforming the Classroom, edited by Sravana Borkataky-Varma and Sarabinh Levy-Brightman, Routledge Press.
• 2024: “From the Fringes to the Center Stage: Hijṛās and Fertility Rituals in Kāmākhyā,” in The Oxford Handbook of Tantric Studies, edited by Richard K. Payne and Glen A. Hayes, Oxford University Press.
• 2023: "WhatsApp Bagalāmukhī: Experiences Deemed Religious" in The Ethnography of Tantra: Textures and Contexts of Living Tantric Traditions, edited by Carola Erika Lorea and Rohit Singh, SUNY.
• 2022: “The Yogic Body in Global Transmission” in The Handbook of Yoga and Meditation Studies, edited by Suzanne Newcombe and Karen O’Brien-Kop, Routledge Press.
• 2022: "Taming Hindu Śakta Tantra on the Internet: Online Pūjās for the Goddess Tripurasundarī" in Digital Hinduism, edited by Xenia Zeiler, Routledge Press.

JOURNAL EDITIONS AND ARTICLES

• 2022: Co-editor of the special issue Digital Tantra, International Journal of Hindu Studies, DOI: 10.1007/s11407-022-09314-.
• 2019: Editor for the special issue Out for Blood: Sacrifice, Tantra, and Normative Hinduism, International Journal of Hindu Studies, DOI: 10.1007/s11407-019-09256-1.
• 2019: “Red: An Ethnographic Study of Cross-Pollination between the Vedic and the Tantric,” International Journal of Hindu Studies, in Out for Blood: Sacrifice, Tantra, and Normative Hinduism, International Journal of Hindu Studies, Chief Editor Sushil Mittal, DOI: 10.1007/s11407-019-09258-z.
• 2018: “The Dead Speak: A Case Study from the Tiwa Tribe Highlighting the Hybrid World of Śākta Tantra in Assam,” Religions 2017, 8(221), DOI: 10.3390/rel8100221.
• 2018: “Menstruation: Pollutant to Potent” in Encyclopedia of Indian Religions: Hinduism and Tribal Religions, edited by Arvind Sharma, Springer, DOI: 10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_481-1.
• 2015: “The Ancient Elusive Serpent in Modern Times: The Practice of Kuṇḍalinī in Kāmākhyā,” International Journal of Dharma Studies, DOI https://orcid.org/ 0000-0002-8589-1871 (2015).
• 2014: “Hinduism,” for the accompanying website for Jeffrey J. Kripal's “Comparing Religions: Coming to Terms” (Oxford: Wiley Blackwell). 

Podcasts

• A Conversation with Sravana Borkataky-Varma
• Kundalini & Tantra Yoga Part 1
• Kundalini & Tantra Yoga Part 2
• The Yogic Studies Podcast Episode 32
• The Yogic Studies Podcast Episode 8
• Sravana Borkataky-Varma: Tantra's Truths and Secrets - Wonderstruck Podcast
• 09. Demystifying Tantra with Dr. Sravana Borkataky Varma (accessibleyoga.org)

Classes

• Introduction to Religious Studies
• Hindu Religion and Identity: A Global Movement
• Lived Hindu Religion
• Buddhist Traditions: An Introduction
• History of Postural Yoga
• Religion and Film