since many reformist groups had the word "samaj" (meaning "society") or were led by a "sant" (meaning "saint"), "sanatanis" are often held to be in contrast with "samajists" and "santpanthis" (meaning those who walk on the "panth"/"path" shown by their "sant"/"saint"). unlike south india, where religious traditions such as shaivism, shaktism and vaishnavism form the principal hindu denominations, ""they were effectively subsumed under the sanatani identity"" in many regions of north india, and the "samajs" and "santpanths" became the other distinct hindu denominations.