Divinity And Diversity
A Hindu Revitalization Movement in Malaysia
Alexandra Kent

ISBN-10 87-91114-40-3
ISBN-13 978-87-91114-40-3
2004, 234pp., 140x 215mm
Baht 945

• Timely and relevant study in this age of concern about transnational ‘religious’ networks.
• Powerful use of ethnographic data to illuminate an original and striking thesis on the ambiguous nature of the Sai Baba movement.
• What makes this work outstanding is how the author places her material against the complex ethnic, political and religious situation of Malaysia.

This book looks closely at the Malaysian following of the contemporary Indian godman Sathya Sai Baba, a neo-Hindu guru famed for his miracle working. This religious innovation has broad appeal among non-Malays, but attempts to formalize and control it have evolved within a middle-class subsection of the Malaysian Indian community. This community makes subtle and ambiguous appeals for both spiritual unity and religious pluralism in response to the totalitarianism and intolerance of Malaysian modernity as it is wielded by the Malay-dominated government.