Seth Powell is a scholar of Indian religions, Sanskrit, and yoga traditions, who earned his PhD in South Asian Religions at Harvard University. His dissertation comprised a critical edition, translation, and detailed study of a 15th-century Sanskrit yoga text from south India known as the Śivayogapradīpikā—which uniquely combines yoga, ritual, and devotion. He also works on the visual and material culture of yoga in premodern India, uncovering yoga’s past through temple sculptures, with a special focus on the Deccan region. Seth is the founder and director of the online educational platform, Yogic Studies, which provides extensive courses and training in Yoga and South Asian Studies to students worldwide. He is also the host of the Yogic Studies Podcast.
Publications
2023. “A Lamp on Śivayoga: The Union of Yoga, Ritual, and Devotion in the Śivayogapradīpikā.” PhD diss., Harvard University. Proquest (37375898).
2023. “Yogi Sculptures: Complex Āsanas Across the Deccan.” In Yoga and the Traditional Physical Practices of South Asia: Influence, Entanglement and Confrontation. Edited by Daniela Bevilacqua and Mark Singleton. Journal of Yoga Studies (4): 85–111.
2018. “Etched in Stone: Sixteenth-century Visual and Material Evidence of Śaiva Ascetics and Yogis in Complex Non-seated Āsanas at Vijayanagara.” Journal of Yoga Studies (1): 45–106.
2018. “The Ancient Yoga Strap: A Brief History of the Yogapaṭṭa.” The Luminescent.