Symposium On Multifaceted Writings Of Sri Appayya Dikshita

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.

Mahamahopadhyaya Mani Dravid Shastrigal is one of the most respected Sanskrit scholars of this age, with erudite scholarship in Advaita Vedanta, Mimamsa, Vyakarana, and Nyaya shastras. He is the maternal grandson of the great scholar Sri Rajeswara Sastrigal of Varanasi. MM Manidravid Shastri holds a Doctorate Degree in Indian philosophy from Banaras Hindu University. He learnt Vedanta and Mimamsa from stalwarts like Pranthiangara Sri S Subramania Sastrigal and Brahmashri R Krishnamurthy Sastrigal.

Manidravid Sastrigal is a regular participant in seminars and debates convened by various mathas and organizations throughout the country. He is widely respected across the length and breadth of India for his erudite scholarship of shastras, his skills in presenting shastrartha and his simplicity. Several titles have adorned him, including the Maharshi Badarayana Vyas Samman by the President of India, Advaita Siddhi Ratnakara by Sringeri Sharada peetha, Advaita Vaada Diggaja by Bhandarikeri Math, Shastranidhi by Sri Avadhoota Datta Peetham, Mahamahopadhyaya title by Sri Lal Bahadur Shastri University.

Dr. Manidravid Sastrigal is currently a professor in Mimamsa department at the Madras Sanskrit College, Chennai, training numerous young scholars for various advanced shaastra exams like the Tenali pariksha.

Dr. K. S. Maheswaran, born on 8th January 1981 in Peringode, Kerala, is an Assistant Professor in Vedanta at Madras Sanskrit College, Chennai. He specializes in Sastras, particularly Poorvamimamsa and Vedanta. Dr. Maheswaran completed his traditional studies under the guidance of renowned scholars and passed the Tenali exam in mimamsa. He holds several academic qualifications, including BA Sahitya, MA Vedanta, Net JRF, and a PhD in Vedanta. Dr. Maheswaran is actively involved in training disciples in various Sastras using the Gurukula traditional system, preparing them for exams such as Tenali Sastra pareeksha. He has written several books in Sanskrit and Malayalam and has presented papers in various seminars conducted by universities. Dr. Maheswaran has won several awards and recognitions, including Maharshi Badarayan Vyas Samman from the Honorable President of India in 2015, Suvarnanguleeyakam from Sringeri Mutt in 2015, and Bharathi Theertha Puraskar from Sringeri Mutt in 2021. He is also proficient in Carnatic music, kathakali music, Mridangam playing, and oil painting.

Karthik Sharma is currently working as an Assistant Professor in Chinmaya Vishwa Vidyapeeth situated in Kochi,Kerala. He completed his graduation and Post graduation in Advaita Vedanta from The Madras Sanskrit College, Mylapore. Karthik Sharma completed his traditional studies in Advaita Vedanta under Dr. K. S. Maheswaran Namboothiri’s guidance, completing all the 15 levels of exams followed by the Mahapareeksha in Advaita Vedanta at Kanchee Veda Vedanta Sastra Sabha, Tenali. He also learned Tarka-Sastra in traditional style under Dr K. E. Devanathan. He also learned advanced Vedanta texts under Mahamahopadhyaya Dr. Mani Dravid Sastrigal. Karthik Sharma has participated as resource person in several Vakyartha sadas, Seminars,debates and Workshops across India.

Karthik Sharma was honoured with the Golden Ring (Suvarnanguleeyakam) by Mahasannidhanam, Sringeri Mutt in the year 2019. He was also awarded with the title ‘Advaitavedantaratnam’ by Kanchi mutt in 2019 and advaita-vedāntavidvanmaṇiḥ’ by Indic Academy in the year of 2021. He was also honoured with the vidyānidhipuraskāra by sringeri mutt in the year of 2022.

Dr. Jammalamadaka Suryanarayana is a researcher and educator who is working to develop future masters by training people who will take the Shastric perspective to the next level. He strongly believes that the need of the hour is to liberate Shastric content from being confined to merely sacred works to become manuals for problem-solding. He aims build such a Shastric technology. His formal education includes a PhD in Tarka Shastra from KSU - Bengaluru, Nyaya Shiromani (MA) in Navya Nyaya from University of Madras - Chennai & MA Sanskrit from Sri Venkateswara Vedic University - Tirupathi to name a few. He is currently working as a senior project manager at Sidhhanta Knowledge Foundation, Chennai and as a Adjunct Faculty, MIT Institute for Indic Knowledge Studies - Pune.

V.Subrahmanian studied in Bengaluru, worked in the Reserve Bank of India there. Took up study of Advaita Vedanta comprising of the prasthana traya Bhashyams under Acharya Veda Brahma Sri D.S.Subbaramaiya (who authored the two-volume English book on Sri Dakshinamurthy Stotram published by the Sringeri Sharada Peetham). After retirement engaged in study and teaching of Advaita both online and in person. Wordpress Blog: Adbhutam where hundreds of articles on Advaita and allied topics are available.

Srinivas Jammalamadaka studied Nyaya/Tarka Shastra under Sri. Ambadipudi Radhe Shyama Shastri, Advaita Vedanta under Sri. R. Mani David's Sastrigal, and Vyakarana under Sri. Ganti Dattatreya Murthy. 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 is presently the Assistant Professor at the School of Shastric Learning, Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University, Ramtek. He has been conferred awards such as - Tarka-Ratnam & Vidwan Mani by Sri Kanchi Shankaracharya, Shastrakalanidhi by Madhya Pradesh State Governor.

Dr. Kuppa Bilwesa Sarma is a traditional scholar of Vyaarana and Advaita Vedanta who is currently working as Assistant Professor at the Department of Prachina Vyakarana, Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Varanasi. He has studied Vyakarana Shastra under Bramhasri Kompella Satyanarayana Shastri and Bramhasri Sripada Subrahmanya Shastri. He has studied Advaita Vedanta under Bramhasri R.Mani Dravida Shstrigal. He has also studied Krishna Yajurveda under Bramhasri Hari Veerabhadra Ghanapathi. He has received several awards including Vyakarana Ratnam and Adviata Vedanta Ratnam from Tenali Shastra Sabha, Vyakarana Shastra Vichakshana and Vidwanmani from Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham,Kanchipuram, Advaita Vedanta Vidwanmani from Indic Academy and many more. He has also authored three books on Vyakarana.

Dr. M Gokulakrishna Aiyar is a practicing Ayurvedic physician in Srirangam, Trichy District, Tamil Nadu. He is a student of Samskrta Sahityam with a special interest in the literary heritage of the Saints of Adi Shankaracharya's tradition.

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.

Sri Krishna Sharma is a traditional Scholar of Samaveda & Advaita Vedanta who currently works as a teacher of Samaveda at Datta Peetham, Mysuru.He studied Samaveda under Sri. Rajesha Shrouthy and Advaita Vedanta under Dr. Kuppa Vishvanatha sharma. He has also studied Ashta Brahamna, Shiksha Vyakarana, and Smarta Prayoga. He is currently pursuing PhD from Karnataka Sanskrit University, Bengaluru on the subject 'Praacheena Arvaacheena Veda Bhashyeshu Vedanta Darshanam' under the guidance of Sri P. Vinayacharya. He has received Veda Vibhushan award from Maharshi Sandeepani Rastriya Vedavidya Pratishthan, Ujjain.

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.

Born in a pious Tamil family, Vidwan K Giridhara Sarma is an electronic engineer by education and profession, with over 30 years of experience that field. In parallel, he was blessed by the great scholar Br.Sri. Goda Venkateswara Sastrigal who took Giridhara Sarma under his tutelage. He studied basics of Tarka has specialized in Mimamsa and Vedanta including Prasthana traya Bhashya and other important texts in both mimamsa shastras. From 2018, Giridhara Sarma has been continuing his learning of Mimamsa under Dr. K E Devanathacharya, Vedanta under Mahamahopadyaya Br.Sri. Dr. Mani Dravid Sastri, and Vyakaranam under Br Sri. Dattatreya Murti. He regularly takes part in vidwat sadas and workshops and also conducts private classes in Mimamsa and Vedanta for few students.

Dr. Tulasi Kumar Joshi is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Sanskrit in the Vasanta College for Women, Rajghat, Varanasi. He has had the rare opportunity to study Vyakarana, Nyaya and Vedanta from imminent Acharyas such as Shri. Purushottam Tripathi, Prof. Rajaram Shukla, Shri Mani Dravid Shastrigal & Shrihari Dhaygude. He has completed Ph.D from the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, guided by Prof. Dhananjay Kumar Pandey, MA (Sanskrit), from the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi & Ācārya in Śāṅkara Advaita in the Sampurnananda Sanskrit University. Following the completion of his Ph.D., Dr. Tulasi Kumar Joshi joined Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan as Guest Faculty in Advaita Vedanta at their Guruvayoor Campus. He has delivered lectures on Vyākaraṇa, Nyāya and Advaita Vedānta at several Vakyārtha Sabhas. He has been invited to several Workshops, Seminars and Conferences, and has published research papers in national and international journals. He has keen interest in Yogic Philosophy too. He is also an expert in the epistemological and metaphysical aspects of Indian philosophy. He devotes significant effort in conducting and participating in traditional discourses on the Śāstras. He has also prepared students for such discourses. He has been conferred with the prestigious award of Suvarṇa-angulīyakam from the Mahasannidhānam at Sringeri Sharada Peetham.

Prof. Madhusudan has been awarded with Sahitya academy award for Mahakavya on Gulabrao maharaj. He has 45 books to his credit and has recently translated the Jnaneshwari of Sant Dnyaneshwar into 9000 Sanskrit verses.Prof. Penna has about 17 awards and honors. He was honoured with honorary D.Litt by National Sanskrit University, Tirupati, AP for his unique contribution in Indian Philosophy. The Tirumala peetham established by Bhagavad Ramanujacharya in the 10th century has conferred Shastraratnakara on him.His areas of interest are Yoga, Advaita and Nyaya philosophy.

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.