Symposium On Significance Of SANYASA TRADITION

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.

Dr. Sushumna Kannan has a PhD in Cultural Studies from Centre for the Study of Culture and Society, Bengaluru, India. Her research on the South Asian devotional traditions and feminist epistemology focused on the medieval saint, Akka Mahadevi and her vachanas. She received the BOURSE MIRA, French research fellowship in 2006 and 2007 and the Sir Ratan Tata fellowship for PhD Coursework and Writing in 2003 and 2007. Dr. Kannan has published her research on bhakti, dharmashastras, ethics, women’s writing in Kannada and English as well as on translation theory in peer-reviewed journals and as book chapters. She received the Indic Academy fellowship in Indic feminism to study “Women’s subjectivity in the dharma texts” in 2021. She is currently working on a book project, Hinduism, Violence and Nonviolence and is finishing an essay on “The Mahabharata as a stri-shudra text.” Dr. Kannan is Scholar-in-Residence at Indic Academy. She runs a podcast on Women and Hinduism for INDICA.

Dr. Swamini Svatmavidyananda Saraswati has taught at several universities nationally, including UC Berkeley. She is widely recognized as a scholar of Advaita Vedanta, and is a disciple of Pujya Sri Swami Dayanandaji Saraswati, an internationally known Acharya of the Advaita Vedanta tradition, interfaith leader, and scholastic author of Vedanta, responsible for the inception of the All India Movement for Seva (AIM for Seva), a non-profit enabling rural Indian children to receive a proper education. She is widely in demand for lectures and seminars, in the USA and internationally, for her expertise in interreligious engagement, and in-depth training and scholarship on Advaita Vedanta. Dr. Saraswati is the Acharya of Arsha Vijnana Gurukulam, which was founded in 2004 and has centers in Atlanta, GA, Eugene, OR, Washington DC, Detroit, MI, Milwaukee, WI, and Fort Meyers, FL.

V S P Varadarajan, born in the lineage of Acharyas appointed by Ramanujacharya had his spiritual studies in a Patashala run in Srirangam by Sri Velukkudi Krishnan Swami. There, he has studied the Shastras and other Sampradayic texts under the guidance of many other Vaishnava Acharyas. He holds an M.A degree in Vishishtadvaita Vedanta. He is currently delivering lectures on Srivaishnava sampradaya in 5 languages. He also runs a YouTube channel named 'Bhakthamrutham' which has become a hit among the Srivaishnava community and today's youth too. Swami has introduced a podcast series called svairālāpam in his YouTube channel where he interviews many scholars. It has become a big hit among many people

Subramanian (commonly referred to as Subbu) hails from a family of Samavedic scholars in the Puthucode village of Palakkad district (Kerala). He is an electrical engineer by qualification and a postgraduate in management from IIM Lucknow. He has 13+ years of experience in management consulting & industry and is currently working as Director of Strategy for a leading MNC in India. He has published operations & strategy case studies/ articles in leading national and international management journals and delivered lectures at IIM Lucknow (Noida), IIM Indore and VJTI (Mumbai). He is an M.A. in Sanskrit (Specialization in Vedanta) and Diploma in Manuscriptology, both from the University of Mumbai where he has also been a visiting faculty of Vedanta, Itihasa, Puranas and Bhakti. He has formally studied Veda chanting for 8 years. He is currently pursuing his doctoral studies on ‘Indic perspectives for modern leadership’ from Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth. He has several papers and articles to his credit published in various national and international journals as well as presentations in various conferences & seminars. Subbu hails from a family of music connoisseurs on his maternal side. He was initiated into Carnatic music by his mother Mrs. Bhagyam (a trained Carnatic singer herself and direct cousin of Vidwan M.A. Kalyanakrishna Bhagavathar). He started his formal training at the age of 13 under Vidushi Smt. Vijaya Vishwanath until her demise in 2006. He then came under the tutelage of ‘Sangita Kala Acharya’ Vidushi Smt. Alamelu Mani under whom he has been learning for the past 15+ years. Both Smt. Vijaya and Alamelu Mani are among the senior most students and torchbearers of the Brindamma school. He has also learnt Tiruppugazh and Tevaram songs from Smt. Janaki Sundararajan and rare kritis of Mysore Sadasiva Rao, Veena Seshanna and Harikesanallur Muthaiah Bhagavathar from Vidushis T.S Satyavati and M.S Sheela. Subbu has been giving many lecture demonstrations and ‘Sangeeta Upanyasam’ (i.e. musical storytelling) combining his interests and skills of music and Indic knowledge. Subbu has also been hosting a channel on Youtube called ‘Subbu’s corner’ that comprises various kinds of sessions aimed at increasing awareness of our great Indic tradition and knowledge

Abhik Ganguly is a poet, writer and yogi. Currently, he’s a Junior Research Fellow pursuing his PhD at the Department of English, University of Delhi. He has won prestigious events like the ‘Poetry on Spring’ contest organized by House of Harmony 2023, besides winning the Amity International Literature Festival’s 'Comic Trivia' which included short story writing and 'Twitterature’. His works have been published in various outlets like the Indian Review, Hooghly Review, Setu Magazine, Criterion Journal, Creative Flight Journal, and Room 16 Magazine.

Shivakumar G V is 'Director - INDICA (Guru-Saadhaka Sachiva). His responsibilities focus on INDICA’s critical mission to cultivate leadership. He guides initiatives to serve Gurus, perpetuate their legacies, enable/empower leaders committed to IKS to become influential thinkers, institution builders and public leaders, and bolster the broader IKS ecosystem. Over the next 36 months, Shivakumar embarks on an ambitious pledge to honor and sustain the legacies of 108 Living and Past Gurus from the 20th Century. His efforts will focus on organizing, making accessible, and cultivating a parampara that highlights their significant contributions to our civilization. As an IKS Research Scholar, Shivakumar remains dedicated to his scholarly pursuits in Itihasa-Puranas and Indian Knowledge Systems. His work includes developing contemporary frameworks based on IKS principles, with a special focus on the Mahabharata and Purushartha. He has been a prolific contributor to INDICA Today, sharing his insights and knowledge with both academic and general audiences. He has delivered several story telling and courses on Mahabharata, Purushartha, Indic Civilization Studies for aspiring leaders and students. He is the curator of ‘Aryaa - An Anthology of Vedic Studies’ a collection of 10 stories on 10 Vedic Women by 10 Authors published by INDICA. Shivakumar holds an M.Tech in Computer Science from IIT Bombay and a B.E. from the National Institute of Technology, Surat. With 25 years of experience in the IT industry, his expertise spans theoretical computer science, algorithms, and learning system design. Shivakumar resides in Bengaluru with his family and is a devoted follower of the River-Goddess Saraswati.

Mihir Keshari is a Ph.D Research Scholar at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. He’s interested in Archaeology, Anthropology and Histories of South Asian religious traditions, with a regional focus on Rajasthan and Nepal. Previous publications: Keshari, M. (2024). Non-Marathi Hindutva Pop Culture and the Imagery of Shivaji: A Digital Ethnographic Exploration of YouTube Contents and Communities. History and Sociology of South Asia, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/22308075241274080 Keshari, Mihir. (2023). The Yogini of the Yoginipura: A Note About Two Unreported Early-Medieval Sculptures from Delhi. The Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society. 114. 53-56. Keshari, M. (2023). Himanshu Prabha Ray, Salila Kulshreshtha, and Uthara Suvrathan (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Hindu Temples: Materiality, Social History and Practice. London and New York: Routledge (Manohar Publishers & Distributors), 2023, 516 pp., ₹1995. ISBN 9781032534497. History and Sociology of South Asia, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/22308075231201899 Keshari, Mihir, review of ‘The Archaeology of the Nātha Sampradāya in Western India, 12th to 15th Century’, By Vijay Sarde, The Daak, Issue No. 5 ( 15th September, 2023).

Dr Kanchan Gogate has completed her PhD on the speeches of Swami Vivekananda and J Krishnamurti under English Literature from the Savitribai Phule Pune University. Indian Philosophy, consciousness, wellness, psychology and Indian spiritual literature in English are her research interest areas. She has been working with The Times of India Pune as the Senior Principal Correspondent for the past 15 years where she handles content management for government/ policy, real estate and education.

His Holiness Swāmī Nityānanda Giri is a Kriya Yoga Acharya, sannyasi and author of the book- Kriyayoga: The Science of Life-force. Swamiji is a revered monk in the tradition of Mahavatar Babaji- Lahidi Mahashaya- Ṡrīyukteṡwar Giri. He was born in 1961 in a remote village in Odisha State, India. He has completed his post-graduation studies, M. Sc. in Zoology in 1983 and obtained Ph.D. on the subject in the branch Cytogenetics (Genotoxicity) in 1990. He was engaged in teaching to post-graduate and under-graduate students of Life Sciences in Regional Institute of Education (NCERT), Bhubaneswar from 1990 to 1996. From 1997 to 2002 he was engaged in social services related to health awareness and health services management in Odisha. He was initiated to the Kriyā-yoga meditation techniques in January 1994. He had renounced all other social and family obligations in June 2002 to become a monk and started living monastic life at Rishikesh. Since September 2005, Swamiji teaches Indian philosophy and initiates seekers to the Kriyā-yoga meditation techniques in India and abroad to disseminate the knowledge received from the masters of the linage as a mission. He is also an expert in Jyotiṣa vidyā. He was living the life of a wandering monk from June 2008 to 2019, monasteries in the Himalayas being his main abode. From 2020, Swamiji lives in his small āśrama in Khadri village, Rishikesh. Email Id- swnityananda@gmail.com Youtube- https://youtube.com/@swaminityanandagiri7136?si=VanOacYq_YoP67Zc Website- https://www.nityanandagirikriyayoga.com/

T. Ganesan, with Ph.D. in Sanskrit has been working as Director of Research at the prestigious French Institute, Pondicherry (IFP) since 1985 and now he continues to be a Research Associate there. He is working on the projects A Comprehensive History of Śaivasiddhānta in Tamilnadu as well as on the project Critical Edition of the Śaivāgama-s. He is one of the editors of the Sukshmagama (3 volumes published and the 4th volume under preparation) published by the French Institute of Pondicherry. The first two volumes of the Paushkaragama along with the two unpublished commentaries of Umapati and Jnanaprakasa critically edited by him for the first time has been published by the National Mission for the Manuscripts (NMM), New Delhi in 2014 and 2020. Śivajñānabodhasūtra with the Laghuṭīkā of Śivāgrayogī, Varuṇapaddhati with the commentary Vilocana of Nigamajñānadeśika, Siddhāntaprakāśikā of Sarvātmaśambhu with Tamil and English translations (published 2009), Śivajñānabodhasūtra with the unpublished commentary of Nigamajñānadeśika (published 2009 by Rashtriya Sanskrit Samsthan) and a few other Śaivasiddhānta texts are some of the important Saiva texts critically edited by him. Two Śaiva Teachers of the 16th century: Nigamajñāna I and Nigamajñāna II which is an analytical study of all the œuvres of these two Śaiva Ācāryas, was published from IFP 2009. He has presented more than 40 seminar papers and research articles concerning Saivism and Saivasiddhanta. He had delivered special lectures concerning various aspects of Saivasiddhānta at The Tamil University, Thanjavur, Pondicherry University, Pondicherry, University of Madras as well as at the Université de Paris III-Nouvelle Sorbonne, Paris and at the University of Marbourg, Germany. Two articles of 10,000 words each on the Śaivasiddhānta and on the Śaiva Āgama-s were published in the volumes of the Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism in 2011 and in 2018. Presently T. Ganesan heads the Centre for Shaiva Studies (CSS), Pondicherry. He is now working on the critical edition of the Kāmikāgama (Pūrva) based on 18 manuscripts which is going to be soon published in the series of the CSS.

Dasari Narasimha is an expert content developer and visual content communicator with a strong focus on creating engaging educational materials. He holds a Master's degree in Hindu Studies from Banaras Hindu University and a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, blending technical and philosophical expertise. With over 100 gamified learning experiences and significant contributions in scriptwriting, visual content design, and production, he has a proven track record in e-learning and content creation. Narasimha is skilled in working with cross-functional teams, including graphic designers, artists, and developers, to bring educational concepts to life. His work spans a variety of subjects, such as Environmental Studies and Chemistry, and he has authored books that integrate AI with human intelligence. Currently, through his YouTube channel "Samvad Voice," Narasimha drives discourse on Hindu Dharma, covering a range of topics related to cultural and spiritual values. His work reflects his commitment to making a positive impact in society, with a focus on promoting Dharma as a guiding principle for a sustainable and harmonious future.

Sahishnu Bhattacharyya is affiliated to the Centre for Research & Archiving (Indian Knowledge Systems) at Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University Delhi. His main research interests revolve around human subjectivity, especially collective subjectivity through interdisciplinary perspectives (sociocultural, anthropological, and religious), with reference to both Western and non-Western (especially anti-individualist) approaches to subjectivity and selfhood. He works with Indian religious thought with a special focus on the recovery of the tradition of prayogaśāstra (ritual studies) from the Vedic paradigm through the smārta and tāntrika paradigms through their evolutions and reconfigurations.