ABSTRACT
In this chapter innovative religiosity is unpacked for its conceptual clarity and is intersected with the history of religiosity and its contemporaneous shifts. Innovations derive their content from their historical origins in diverse forms of adaptation and outright change accommodating a few principles of modernity on the rationale of socio-political developments. Paul William’s theorizing of the concept of historical temporality fits well into this analysis of innovation and religiosity which treats the fundamentals of religiosity by identifying the rituals, manner, and patterns of worship (and their philosophy) with the re-creation of belief systems along with institutional innovation. The shift from the original to the innovative is treated as a conversion process. Exploring the hidden submerged reasons for such conversion is linked to the theory of alienation. This discussion also raises the question of identity politics and its linkages to the innovative text of the Shivsenai group. The three types of innovative religiosity selected for discussion are Satya Sậi Bäbä, the Brahma Kumaris, and a popular “god-man” known as Premananda Swami.
