TOP 10 FEMALE SPIRITUAL GURUS IN INDIA

No incarnation of God can be conceptualized without its feminine power or Shakti. Feminine energy manifests itself in the form power, strength, creation, tolerance, compassion etc. India is not only the land of popular male spiritual gurus, it  can pride itself being the hub of female spiritual gurus, who have inspired many by their lives, carved a niche for themselves in the spiritual world and are highly visible in the contemporary world as spiritual leaders. Some of the examples of well-known female gurus include Anandmayi maa, Sharda Maa, Mata Amritanandamayi (Amma), Prernamurti Bharti Shri ji, Nirmala Devi, B.K.Shivani, Saadhvi Ritambhara, Anandamurthi Gurumaa,  Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, Mother Meera. A peek into their lives and work would be an inspiration to many:

1. Maa Anandmayi
   
   
   

 Anandamayi Ma was born in East Bengal (now Bangladesh) in 1896 as Nirmala. The love for divinity was visible in her since childhood and the sound of religious chanting would bring about ecstatic feelings in her as a child. Her spiritual qualities were recognized by others around her who called her ‘Maa’, and even her husband accepted her as his Guru and took initiation from her. Maa Anandmayi professed the importance of detachment from the world and religious devotion. She also encouraged her devotees to selflessly serve others. As part of her detached spiritual practice, she did much traveling and wandering, at times refusing to stay at the ashrams her devotees provided for her. She was a source of inspiration to many and influenced the spirituality of large number of people who came to see her throughout her long life, and died in 1981.

2. Sharda maa

Sarada Devi (22 December 1853 – 20 July 1920 was the spouse and spiritual companion of Sri Ramakrishna, a nineteenth-century Hindu saint. Sarada Devi is also popularly known as the Holy Mother (Sri Sri Maa) by the followers of the Sri Ramakrishna. Sri Sarada Devi is one of the distinguished woman saints and mystics of the nineteenth century. She was the first disciple of Ramakrishna, who initiated her into spirituality and taught her the sacred mantras. She selflessly served Ramakrishna, practiced meditation in her free time and preferred to remain in the background, but her warm persona attracted many to be her followers. After the death of Ramakrishna she played an important role in guiding the followers and were seen by them as the Holy mother.

3. Amritanandmayi ‘Amma’
   
   
   

Mātā Amritānandamayī Devi is an Indian guru from Kollam District, in the state of Kerala. She was a very compassionate and kind soul since childhood. Despite being from a poor family, she distributed her household things to those who were more needy and poor. She used to hug people and help them despite her parents’ resistance. Her compassionate nature and love for all drew many followers towards her. Amṛtānandamayī's form of giving blessing is hugging people. It is known that she has embraced more than 33 million people throughout the world for over 30 years (Kuruvilla, Carol, 2015). She advocates the path of Vedas and Bhagvad Gita to all her followers. She prescribes the combination karma, jnana and bhakti (yoga) to traverse the path of spirituality and God realization.

4. Prernamurti Bharti Shri ji
   
   
   

Prernamurti Bharti Shri ji is one of the most distinctive spiritual leader and humanitarian from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Born to very spiritual parents, she was a spiritual seeker since her childhood, having many mystical experiences and revelations as a child. She undertook rigorous meditational and yogic practices in her youth, and gained divine insights, experiences and knowledge as a result. She not only prescribes spiritual principles but leads through setting an exemplar by her own disciplined and pure lifestyle. She strongly believes in positively utilizing each and every moment of her breath and spends most of her time in either meditating or planning and implementing welfare based programs for cows, environment, the marginalized, diseased, women, children and youth. Under her aegis some landmark initiatives like de-addiction programs, Divya Shishu Ratna (Vedic garbh vigyan), Gavyedha (caring for cows), Harit Kranti (environment protection program), Yuvacon (Seminars for Guidance for Youth), Masttshala (online vedic summer camp), Online bi-monthly spiritual magazine (Prabhu mein tera) have been carried out by her organization ‘Satprerna’. Her curiosity and ardent belief in Hindu culture and vedic tradition has resulted in the vast spread of information about the science behind the Hindu festivals. She is an inspirational figure whose spiritual discourses, bhajans and ways of living are revered and followed by large number of people in and across the world. Her fine balance of spiritual principles with practice and rituals with science makes her unique and stand out among others in the spiritual arena. 

5. Nirmala devi

Shri Mataji Nirmala was born as Nirmala Srivastava on 21 March 1923 , and was the founder of a new religious movement known as Sahaja Yoga. The practice of Sahaj Yog helps practitioners to connect to the power within. Mata Nirmala Devi is regarded by her devotees to be a self- realized soul, an incarnation of Adi Shakti, the great mother goddess, who developed and promoted a powerful technique through which people can achieve self-realization. This is achieved through the path of kundalini awakening. Sahaj yoga as a movement is highly popular and has found acceptance internationally, with the organization, Sahaja Yoga International, being a registered organization in countries such as Colombia, the United States of America and Austria. The organization has its youth movement "Yuvashakti", the International Sahaja Public School and Ashrams at various locations.

6.      B.K Shivani

Brahma Kumari Shivani, Sister Shivani, or BK Shivani is a teacher and practitioner of Raj Yoga meditation of the Brahma Kumaris spiritual movement in India since 1996. She was born as Shivani Verma in Pune to parents who were devotees of Brahmakumaris. She completed her graduation and postgraduation and thereafter devoted herself fully to the events, initiatives and programs of the Brahamakumaris. She first appeared in the now widely popular show ‘Awakening with Brahma Kumaris’ in year 2007, and has been instrumental in the positive transformation and shaping the lives of many through her discourses. Her followers claim to successfully overcome mental health problems like stress, depression, addictions, low self-esteem etc. Recognizing her role in transforming human behaviours, she was awarded the prestigious Nari Shakti Puraskaar, one of the highest civilian honor for women in India, In March 2019.

7. Sadhvi Ritambhara

Sadhvi Rithambhara was born as Nisha Ritambara in Ludhiana district of Punjab. She took spiritual initiation under her Guru Swami Parmanand and lived in an ashram in Haridwar. She later entered the Sangh Parivar as a member of the Rashtriya Sevika Samiti, the women's arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). She is a founder-chairperson of Durga Vahini. The purpose of the Durga Vahini is to encourage more and more women to participate in prayer meetings and cultural activities. She has her ashram in Vrindavan, and also runs ashrams for unwanted infants, ladies and widows in Indore, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh. She started VatsalyaGram, a residential societal community where homeless people without a roof or a family find a home, form a family and live life with dignity in the campus premises. She is considered a strong advocate of Hindu ideology and known for her fiery and religio-political speeches.

8. Anandmurti Gurumaa

Anandmurti Gurumaa was born Gurpreet Kaur Grover on 8th of April 1966 at Amritsar in Punjab India. She was a curious and inquisitive child who questioned about otherworldly existence. Her spiritual quest was much beyond children of her age. She meditated in silence from childhood and took diksha from Sant Delawar Sigh who gave her the title of Anandmurti Gurumaa. She is a poet and has also authored number of books on health and spirituality. Anandmurti Gurumaa has undertaken number of social welfare programs, one of them being the mission ‘shakti’ program for preventing female foeticide and empowering women. She regularly conducts workshops, spiritual discourses and meditation retreats at different places in and around the country for her followers and spiritual seekers. Her spiritual discourses and bhajans are very popular and guide many towards the spiritual path.  

9. Gurumayi Chidvilasananda
   
   
   

Gurumayi Chidvilasananda or Gurumayi was born as Malti Shetty in Manglore, She is a disciple of popular saint Swami Muktananda and is the current spiritual head of the Siddha Yoga path. She is considered to be a Siddh Guru by her disciples, the one who has the capacity to awaken the hidden spiritual energy or Kundali in spiritual seekers through the process of shaktipat. She carries on the Siddha yoga lineage of Swami Nityananda and Swami Muktanada through her travel and teachings, and profess the message that there is a possibility of experiencing divine consciousness in the body by going inwards.

10.  Mother Meera

Mother Meera was born as Kamala Reddy in Telangana district of India. Her devotees believe her to be an embodiment of the Divine Mother or Shakti. She had spiritual experiences of Samadhi at a tender age of six, and her spiritual aura and powers were first perceived by her uncle when she was 12 years old. She does not give any lectures and has a unique way of giving darshan to the devotees. She bestows her blessings to devotees in total silence, by placing her hand on person’s head and looking into his/her eyes. In the process she supposedly ‘unties knots’ in persons’ mind and enlightens the mind with light.  Her teachings mainly consist of bhakti and Japa i.e. chanting of divine name or mantra in order to experience the divine light.