42nd Symposium on Sri-Harsha’s Khaṇḍanakhaṇḍakhādya

Nithin Sridhar is a Practising Hindu, Author, and Speaker He is the Director & Chief Curator of INDICA Center for Moksha Studies (Advaita Academy) dedicated to the dissemination of Advaita Vedanta. He has authored six books on various aspects of Hindu culture and practice. His first book “Musings On Hinduism '' provided an overview of various aspects of Hindu philosophy and society. His book ‘Samanya Dharma’ enunciates upon general tenets of ethics as available in Hindu texts. His latest book ‘Isopanishad: An English Commentary’ is an English translation and commentary on one of the prominent Hindu texts. However, his most widely read book is “Menstruation Across Cultures: A Historical Perspective'' which examines menstruation notions and practices prevalent in different cultures & religions from across the world. His upcoming book is a commentary on the opening verses of Manusmriti. He teaches courses on Hinduism for Indica Courses and regularly contributes articles and delivers lectures on religion, spirituality, and culture at various platforms. Earlier, he had also served as the Editor of IndiaFacts- a portal on Indian history and culture. He tweets at @nkgrock.

Trained in Sanskrit and Advaita Vedanta by his hyper-polyglot, polymath and spiritually accomplished sakala-shaastra-paarangata father, late Sri Paturi Sitaramanjaneyulu garu, Dr Nagaraj Paturi is seriously committed to the transmission of Vedic sciences to the present generation. In his PhD thesis (1998, University of Hyderabad), he developed an Indic Model of Myth Criticism of Literature and in his MPhil (1987, University of Hyderabad), he foregrounded Vakyapadiya as the theoretical foundation of the Ashtadhyayi. In addition to over 50 publications and about 60 conference/seminar/workshop papers, Dr Paturi has designed several courses pertaining to the contemporary applications of Vedic Sciences and has been successfully teaching them and getting them taught. Formerly Senior Professor of Cultural Studies FLAME School of Communication (& FLAME School of Liberal Education) and a Visiting Professor, University of Chicago (USA), Dr Paturi is currently Senior Director and Chief Curator at INDICA, a Distinguished Professor, Curriculum Designer, Executive Committee Member, Board of Studies, MIT School of Vedic Sciences (Pune, Maharashtra), Member, Board of Studies at Kavikulaguru Kalidasa Sanskrit University (Ramtek, Maharashtra) and Rashtram School of Public Leadership (Sonipat, Haryana). He is also the Editor-in-Chief of International Journals of Studies in Public Leadership and is a member of the Advisory Council of Veda Vijnana Shodha Samsthanam (Bengaluru, Karnataka). He has provided consultancy to numerous culture research, theatre, and dance innovation projects. He has authored scores of creative writing works for Classical Dance, Modern Theater, and magazines and has delivered several series of talks and other programs on Radio and Television channels.

Jaishankar Narayanan is a sishya of Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati ji and has undergone a three-year residential Vedanta course with Pujya Swamiji at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam (AVG), Anaikatti, Coimbatore, India from 1995-1998. An alumnus of IIT-BHU Varanasi, Jaishankar graduated as an Engineer and was working in India and later USA as a Software Engineer. He met his Guru Pujya Swami Dayananda ji first at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Saylorsburg, PA at USA and then decided to study Vedanta with Pujya Swamiji. After completing the three-year residential course at AVG, Anaikatti, Jaishankar married Srividya who was also a student of the same course, as per Pujya Swamiji’s wishes. Pujya Swamiji asked Jaishankar and his Gurubhai Kalyankumar to buy some land in a rural area and build a Gurukulam around 2010. As a tribute to his Guru, Jaishankar along with Kalyankumar and Srividya, is now building Aarsha Vidya Varshini Gurukulam at Kallidaikurichi, Tirunelveli District, India. . Jaishankar plans to teach Vedanta and Sanskrit primarily for adults but also plans to have yoga camps, children’s camps and youth camps in future. As of now he is conducting online classes on Vedanta, Samskritam and chanting.

Sri Kuvalaya Datta is a traditional Scholar of Samaveda & Advaita Vedanta who currently works as a teacher of Advaita Vedanta at Datta Peetham, Mysuru. He studied Samaveda under Sri. Rajesha Shrouthy and Advaita Vedanta under Dr. Kuppa Vishvanatha sharma. He is currently pursuing his PhD on the topic "Nyayasudha Jignasadhikarana sameekshanam" from National Sanskrit University, Tirupati under the guidance of Sri. Ganapati Bhat.

Suryanarayana Jammalamadaka studied Nyaya/Tarka Shastra, Advaita Vedanta, and Vyakarana under eminent Gurus in Gurukula Paddhati. He has completed the Tenali exams in Tarka Shastra and appeared for the Tenali exams in Advaita Vedanta. He has completed MPhil & PhD in Nyaya shastra. He has worked as Assistant Professor at the School of Vedic Sciences MIT ADT University, Pune. He is the co-founder of Sri Kameswari Foundation and is currently working as senior Project Manager, Siddhanta Knowledge Foundation, Adjunct Faculty, MIT IIKS, Pune. He has been conferred awards such as - Tarka-Ratnam & Vidwan Mani by Sri Kanchi Shankaracharya, Shastrakalanidhi by Madhya Pradesh State Governor.

Sudhanshu Shekhar is from Bihar and has done his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kanpur. Subsequently he cleared Civil Services Examination and was selected for Indian Revenue Service. He currently works as Commissioner of Income-tax in New Delhi. He has also completed LLB from Mumbai University. He is a student and seeker of Advaita Vedanta who tries to live the teachings in accordance with Vivarana prasthana.

Vid Raghavendra Arolli is a Assistant Professor (Guest) in Nyaya Department at Shri Rajiv Gandhi Campus, Central Sanskrit University, Sringeri. He has studied Navya Nyaya as a special subject in both of Degree and Masters level. He completed his Phd from Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan in 2016. He has traditionally studied Samaveda Poorvabhaga under Sri Ramamurthi Shrouthigal, Sringeri and studied Vedanta Shastra under Mahamahopadhyaya Mani Dravida sastrigal, Chennai. He has published more than 15 research articles in various journals and presented more than 20 papers at academic seminars and conferences. He has also contributed chapters to a number of books on Shastriya subjects. He regularly participates in the Mahaganapati Vakyartha Vidvat Sabha and has been awarded the Golden Ring by Sringeri Shankaracharya in 2018. He was also honoured with Vidyanidhi Puraskara by Sringeri Peetham in 2022.

Dr. Bilwesh is a traditional scholar of Krishna Yajurveda, Vyakarana and Advaita Vedanta. He completed his kramanta adhyayana of Krishna Yajurveda under eminent gurus in Mysore. He studied Vyakarana under Shri Kompella Satyanarayana Sastri Garu and Advaita Vedanta under Mahamahopadhyaya Dr. R. Mani Dravida Sastrigal. He competed tenali exams in Vyakarana and Advaita Vedanta shastras. He has completed his Doctoral Degree (PhD) in Vyakarana from National Sanskrit University, Tirupati. He is conferred titles such as Vyakarana Ratnam, Vedanta Ratnam and Vidwan Mani by Kanchi Shankaracharya.

Dr Ganesh Ishwar Bhat is the HOD & Professor in Advaita Vedanta Department, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan(Deemed University) Rajiv Gandhi Campus, SRINGERI. Born in Sirsi, North Kanara Dist. Karnataka. He had his Krishna Yajurveda adhyayana at Swarnavalli Mutt. After studying Advaita Vedanta under HH Sri Gangadharendra Saraswati Swamiji, he has qualified in the title examination Vidwan (M.A) from Karnataka Sanskrit University and M.A. in Sanskrit from Karnataka State Open University, Mysore. He received vidyāvāridhi (Ph.D.) degree from the Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha Tirupati, for the thesis namely A Critical Study of Advaita Philosophy in Vishnupurana on the basis of Sridhariya Commentary. He completed his Shikshashastri ( B Ed) in Rajiv Gandhi Campus Sringeri. He has edited 7 books and has written several research articles in Sanskrit and Kannada language. He has delivered lectures in several religious programs & participated in many Vakyarthasabhas and Kavigoshthis in different parts of the country.

Vidwan Vachaspati Shastri R. Joshi is a traditionally trained Sanskrit scholar from Dharwad, Karnataka, with deep roots in the Gurukula tradition. Born into a family of renowned scholars, he studied under his grandfather and father before continuing advanced śāstra studies under eminent teachers across India. He has cleared formal exams such as Nyāya Abhijña, Nyāya Kovida, and Nyāya Chūḍāmaṇi, and completed his M.A. (Nyāyāchārya) from R.S. Vidyapeetham, Tirupati. He also holds a Ph.D. from Karnatak University.

Srinivas Jammalamadaka studied Nyaya/Tarka Shastra, Advaita Vedanta, and Vyakarana under eminent Gurus in Gurukula Paddhati. He has completed the Tenali exams in Tarka Shastra and appeared for the Tenali exams in Advaita Vedanta. He has completed MPhil & PhD in Nyaya shastra. He has worked as Assistant Professor and served as Director of the School of Shastric Learning, Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University, Ramtek. He is the co-founder of Sri Kameswari Foundation and is currently working as Director for IKS Research in Brhat Educational Trust He has been conferred awards such as - Tarka-Ratnam & Vidwan Mani by Sri Kanchi Shankaracharya, Shastrakalanidhi by Madhya Pradesh State Governor.