Symposium On Vedic Dialogues

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.

Shankar Rajaraman is a recipient of the prestigious Badarayan Vyas Samman (2019) from the President of India, Shri Ramnath Kovind, for his contribution to Sanskrit language and literature. He has also been conferred with the Professor M. Hiriyanna Sanskrit Works Award for the best Sanskrit poet of the year (2013), the Bannanje Award (2017), and the Vagdevi Puraskara (2021) by the Akhila Bharatiya Sahitya Parishad. He has several publications to his credit including the English translations of two Ayurvedic texts (Kṣemakutūhala and Bhojanakutūhala) on dietetics, a Sanskrit Messenger poem (Kokila Sandeśa), a Sanskrit epic (Madhurā Vijaya), a Kannada translation of two chapters (Annabhoga and Pādābhyaṅgabhoga) from the encyclopaedic work Mānasollāsa, and a Sanskrit translation of the Kannada vacana-s composed by Basaveshwara. Some of his original Sanskrit poems that have been published include Devīdānavīyam, Citranaiṣadham, Bhārāvatārastavaḥ, and Nipuṇaprāghuṇakam. Shankar is currently an Associate Professor at the Centre for Ancient History and Culture, Jain University, Bengaluru.

Prof. N. K. Sundareswaran is currently a Professor at University of Calicut, Kerala. He also has a PG in Sanskrit from the University of Calicut. He has published more than 75 Research papers in Reputed Journals and Books. He has authored seven books in different languages (English, Sanskrit and Malayalam), and has edited 15 books, on different aspects of Indology and Sanskrit. He has presented papers in 15 International Conferences and more than 75 National Seminars including three World Sanskrit Conferences. Prof. Sundareswaran has been felicitated with Vikram Kalidas award for best paper, Kalidasa Academy & Vikram University Ujjain (2010).

Dr. Sumitra Velury was awarded a Ph.D. in Kuchipudi Dance from Potti Sriramulu(PS) Telugu university. The topic for the dissertation is “The origin and development of Kuchipudi dance with special reference to Bhamakalapam”.

She did her Masters in Human resources management from Andhra University and Kuchipudi Dance from P.S. Telugu University respectively. She is qualified in the UGC NET exam, in the year 1999 and awarded a Senior fellowship in 2007.

She has forty published research articles in various reputed magazines and souvenirs. Presented papers in several National and international seminars and received wide acclaim from the learned. A special mention needs to be made of Workshops on Natya Sastra and Kuchipudi, which were well received by the knowledge seekers.

Apart from working for electronic media, she is also a visiting professor at Telugu University and Krishna University. Recently she joined as a faculty member, Veda Samskriti Samithi.

As a performing artist, choreographer, anchor, compeer, academician, and educator her multi-faceted career spanning over three decades is fruitful and rewarding. In recognition of her contribution to Indian Dance, music and literature she was awarded with the title - Natya Mayuri.

Dr. Sharda Narayanan began her Sanskrit studies during school years under Late Vidwan Chakravarthy Ananthacharya and completed Samskrita Sahitya Examinations at Sri Chamarajendra Wodeyar Samskrit College, Bengaluru. After B.Sc. from Mpunt Carmel College and M.Sc. in Physics, she completed M.A. in Sanskrit from Bangalore University. Having taught Physics at Mount Carmel College, Bengaluru briefly, she went on to completing Ph.D. in Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, her topic being the Vakyapadiya of Bhartrhari. She has been teaching Sanskrit language, Indian philosophy and Natyasastra at DR. MGR Janaki College for Women, Chennai, since 2012.

She has presented many papers at National and International Seminars, including World Sanskrit Conferences at Edinburgh, Bangkok and Vancouver, Bhopal Lit Fest etc. She has participated as faculty for workshops on arbitration and conflict management conducted by SASTRA University, to present Indian perspectives on cognition and conflict. Several research papers on Sanskrit studies have been published in University Journals as also a number of books on philosophy and literature. Her research in Indian philosophy and literary traditions now continue in the areas of Mimamsa as well as classical poetry.

Acharya Veeranarayana N. K. Pandurangi is a Professor and Dean, Vedanta Faculty, at the Karnataka Samskrit University, Bengaluru. He is is the author of Vishnvarchana commentary on Rgveda being published from 2022. His research interests are in the fields of Vedic studies, Indian Logic, Dvaitavedanta, Purvamimamsa, Ancient Indian History and Machine translation where he has contributed by publishing many books and papers in various journals. He founded of Bharatiya vidvat parishat with Shrinivas Varakhedi in 2009. He received Badarayana Vyas Samman from President of India in 2011.

Satavadhani Dr. R Ganesh (b. 1962, Bengaluru) is one of India’s foremost Sanskrit Poets and Scholars. He writes and lectures extensively on various subjects pertaining to India and Indian Cultural Heritage. He is a master of the ancient art of Avdhanam, where he faces a group of eight (in Astavadhanam) or hundred (in Satavadhanam) questioners and in response to their many queries, composes extempore poems set to metre, solves poetic challenges, solves a magic square, keeps track of the count of a randomly rung bell, and so forth. Dr. Ganesh performs Avadhanam primarily in Kannada, Sanskrit, and Telugu. (He is credited with reviving the art in Kannada.) He has performed more than 1,200 Astavadhanams and five Satavadhanams thus far.

He is fluent in several languages including Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Greek, Latin and Italian. He is well versed in the Vedas, Vedangas, Upanisads, Dharma-sastra literature, various classical texts on the arts like the Natya-sastra, and literature in classical Sanskrit. Dr. Ganesh holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a master’s degree in Metallurgy as well as in Sanskrit. Hampi University awarded him a D.Litt. for his thesis, ‘Kannadadalli Avadhanakale’. Tumkur University awarded him an honorary doctorate (D.Litt.) He is recipient of several awards and recognitions including the Badarayana-Vyasa Puraskar from the President of India for his contribution to the Sanskrit language.

In the year 2022, the Central Sahitya Academy Award for the best Sanskrit Translation was conferred to him.

He was honoured with the Rajyotsava Award by the Karnataka Government in 1992, the highest recognition from the State. Recently he was honoured with the fellowship Shaastra Chudaamani from the Central Sanskrit University, Delhi.

Also he was honoured with the Kalidasa Award from the Kavikula Guru Kalidasa Sanskrit University, Nagpur, in the year 2020.