Symposium On VEDIC DEBATES

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.

Prof. V. N. Jha is an eminent scholar and a specialist of various branches of Sanskrit learning.

All along his life he has been trying to promote Sanskrit studies through multi-disciplinary approaches in order to make such studies relevant to contemporary world and knowledge domains. He has visited several countries as visiting Professor and has delivered lectures. He created new disciplines of study in Sanskrit. He has contributed over 50 books and over 150 articles. 35 students received PhD degree under his supervision. He is member of a number of national and international academic bodies and institutions. He has been honored by several academic institutions (such as Mahamahopadhyaya by Hindi Sammelan Prayag; Vidyavachaspati by Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, Tirupati; Pandita-Sarvabhauma by Moris Stella College, Vijayawada, Andhrapradesh,etc.) In the year 2012, he was conferred the degree of D.Lit. by the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, New Delhi in the International Conference.

He has a long administrative experience of 20 years as the Director, Centre of Advanced Study in Sanskrit, University of Pune. He was also the founding Chairman of the Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He retired on 31st of July, 2006. Prof. V. N. Jha is an eminent scholar and a specialist of various branches of Sanskrit learning.

All along his life he has been trying to promote Sanskrit studies through multi-disciplinary approaches in order to make such studies relevant to contemporary world and knowledge domains. He has visited several countries as visiting Professor and has delivered lectures. He created new disciplines of study in Sanskrit. He has contributed over 50 books and over 150 articles. 35 students received PhD degree under his supervision. He is member of a number of national and international academic bodies and institutions. He has been honored by several academic institutions (such as Mahamahopadhyaya by Hindi Sammelan Prayag; Vidyavachaspati by Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, Tirupati; Pandita-Sarvabhauma by Moris Stella College, Vijayawada, Andhrapradesh,etc.) In the year 2012, he was conferred the degree of D.Lit. by the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, New Delhi in the International Conference. He has a long administrative experience of 20 years as the Director, Centre of Advanced Study in Sanskrit, University of Pune. He was also the founding Chairman of the Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He retired on 31st of July, 2006.

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. 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.

Raghavan did his graduation in Electronics Engineering from IIT Dhanbad (ISM). After a brief stint as a software engineer at Samsung, he shifted my area of study to Philosophy. He did his PG and PhD from University of Hyderabad. His primary area of research is Philosophy of Language. He has been teaching courses in introductory philosophy, Indian Philosophy, Logic, Critical Thinking and Indian Knowledge Traditions since 2016. He is keen on developing new ways (particularly examples) of teaching Philosophy to students, especially those students who do not have a background in Philosophy.

Dr. Rao was introduced to the Samskrit world at the age of 10. He underwent 12 years of rigorous training in Vedic literature, covering 10 major Upanishads, and is trained to chant the entire Kṛiṣṇa-Yajurveda (Taittirīya recession). In addition, he has studied classical Sanskrit including Kāvya, Panini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī, vedānta, nyāya, sāṃkhya, and Yoga. He has authored a primer on Sanskrit grammar named aṣṭādhyāyī-praveśa. His current areas of research include cultural difference and translation, Indian political thought with reference to arthaśāstra and dharmaśāstras, among others. He has more than seven years of teaching and research experience. He has worked as an assistant professor at MIT School of Vedic Sciences, Pune, and as deputy director at Veda Vijnana Shodha Samsthanam. Currently, he is an assistant professor at Chanakya University, Bengaluru.

Jayaraman Mahadevan holds a PhD in Samskrita from the University of Madras (2006-2010) (Topic: The Doctrine of Tantrayukti – A Study). He underwent traditional Gurukula education, in Vedas (Taittiriya Shakha–Mula) and (Prasthana Traya) Shastras (1998-2005), in Veda Vijnana Gurukulam, Bengaluru, Under Pracarya Kotemane Ramachandra Bhat. He is currently Director of Division of Textual Research in Yoga, Indica Academy. He earlier served as the Director, Research Department, of Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram, Chennai, for over a decade (2010-2021). His expertise in the field of Yoga, academics and Research has been recognized and utilised by various academic and research organisations by nominating him to various academic boards and councils including the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library-CSIR, Govt of India (Task force member), Kalakshetra Foundation (Governing Board Member), Ministry of Culture, Govt of India, Chennai. He recently received (2021) Saṃskṛta Grantha Puraskara from Karnataka Sanskrit University for his Sanskrit book Mantra-artha-cintanam. His Tamil translation of the Sanskrit text Hatha Yoga Pradipika was published earlier this year by INDICA.

Dr. Ketu Ramachandrasekhar has his Doctorate in Indian Epistemology and is a recipient of Prince of Wales Medal for outstanding Performance in University of Madras and was fortunate to complete his studies under to his Guru Vidya Vachaspati Brahmashri Goda Venkateshwara Shastrigal. He was selected as a Fellow for Studies in Neuro- Aesthetics and Indian Rhetorics by Ministry of Culture, GOI. He was a part of Academic Team of scholars across Europe on discussion of Natya Texts and a member of Aix-en-Provence University, France Academic Panel. He is also involved with Samskrt Theatre for the past 28 years and has acted in many plays produced by Samskrta Ranga founded by Dr V. Raghavan. His knowledge in Shaiva Pratyabhijna School is well recognised by scholars of Kashmir Shaivism and he has been a regular contributor to their Journals on the works and contributions of Acharya Abhinavagupta. He has attended several national and International Conferences. He has several research articles and books to his credit which includes a detailed study of Abhinayadarpana of Nandikeshvara, Independent commentary on Devi Mahatmya, translation of Majma-ul-bahrain of Dara Shikoh and others. His advice is also sought in matters relating to prayoga aspect of Tantra Shastra by established centers of Shakti worship. He owes all his achievements to his Guru Vidya Vacaspati Brahmashri Goda Venkateshwara Shastrigal.

Sriprada Indrakanti was born and raised in the U.S.A. She studied Sanskrit texts like Ashtanga Hrudaya and Charaka Samhita for the past 5 years under Gurus in India. Sriprada has 6 years of experience in teaching Sanskrit and Indic knowledge for various organizations like Vyoma Linguistic Labs, Shri Veda Bharathi, SGS Gita Foundation, and Chinmaya Mission. She has trained 4000+ students, guiding them in authentic Sanskrit pronunciation. She is also an artist, carnatic singer, certified Yoga Instructor by AYUSH and S-VYASA, and Vipassana meditator. She presented in the International Delegates Assembly on strengthening U.S-India relations at the World Ayurveda Congress which PM Modi attended and also interacted with senior government officials regarding building awareness on Indian Knowledge Systems. She won 2nd prize among 26 countries in an International Elocution Competition on ‘Importance of Traditional Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS)’ organized by I.C.C.R, Ministry of External Affairs. Her research on Vedic rituals has been recognized by the Ministry of Education at an IKS National Conference and was awarded 1st prize. She stood 2nd among 30,000+ participants in the National Level Contest on 'The Glory of Indian Civilisation'. She was invited by the GOI to represent the U.S.A at India’s first Y20/G20 Inception Meeting and to engage several G-20 Sessions for 800+ NSS Youth from 11 states in National Integration Camps across India.