Gurumayi Chidvilasananda (or Swami Chidvilasananda), born Malti Shetty on 24 June 1955, is the current guru or spiritual head of the Siddha Yoga path, with ashrams in India at Ganeshpuri and the Western world, with the headquarters of the SYDA foundation in South Fallsburg, New York

She was spiritually initiated (shaktipat) by her guru, Muktananda, when she was 14, at which time he designated her and her brother Swami Nityananda as his successors

She became a renunciate (sanyassin) in 1982

Muktananda died later that year and she and her brother jointly became the heads of Siddha Yoga

They proceeded to expand the South Fallsburg ashram to accommodate large numbers of devotees

In 1985 Nityananda left the Siddha Yoga path

Chidvilasananda made Siddha Yoga popular in the United States

From 2004, the emphasis was shifted from large in-person gatherings of devotees to worldwide dissemination of Siddha Yoga, with local centres, video streaming, and use of the website

The South Fallsburg ashram was reduced, and the Ganeshpuri ashram became more private, limiting casual visits to the temple and shrine

She has written several devotional books, starting with the 1989 Kindle My Heart