Contributing Scholars & Authors Directory

NI

Nilambar Chakrabarti

PV-2026-NC12

Jadavpur University / Smith College

Nilambar Chakrabarti is a doctoral research scholar in Philosophy at Jadavpur University, a Sylff Fellowship recipient, and former Research Fellow at Smith College in South Asian Studies. He regularly moderates the Poorvam Cite It! and Authors in Conversation academic symposia series.

AM

Amritanath Bhattacharya

PV-2026-1637

Editor-in-Chief, PIJCACE

Amritanath Bhattacharya is a scholar, author, and cultural theorist working at the intersection of classical Indian aesthetics (Rasa & Dhvani theories), Sanskrit hermeneutics, and modern digital humanities. He serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Poorvam International Journal of Creative Arts and Cultural Expressions (PIJCACE) and is the founding director of the Poorvam Foundation research ecosystem.

RA

Rakesh Das

PV-2026-1610

Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute

Dr. Rakesh Das is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Sanskrit and Philosophy at Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Belur Math. His areas of research include Sanskrit grammar, computational linguistics, modern Sanskrit literature, Sāṅkhya and Vedānta philosophy, and Hindu rituals. He is an accomplished scholar, author, editor and translator, with numerous publications and invited lectures in India and abroad.

PI

Piyal Bhattacharya

PV-2026-PB01

Chidakash Kalalay Centre of Art and Divinity

Shri Piyal Bhattacharya is a renowned scholar, musicologist, dramaturg, and traditional practitioner. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of Chidakash Kalalay Centre of Art and Divinity, Kolkata. An authority on Nāṭyaśāstra, Gandharva music, ancient Indian dance traditions (nṛtta and karaṇa reconstruction), and the philosophical treatises of Ācārya Abhinavagupta, his research synthesizes traditional śāstric philology with embodied artistic practice.

Contributing scholar to the Poorvam research ecosystem.

RI

Rik Amrit

PV-2026-0172

Founder and Editor-in-Chief at PIJCACE

Rik Amrit is not a mere pseudonym; it embodies the essence of Amritanath. His journey spans diverse experiences—from the simplicity of a chulha to the grandeur of stage lights, from communism to the sacred reverence of Kamakhya. To him, the world is a mirror of language, and he firmly believes that "once a word is written on paper, it can never return to the pen." Varanasi is the city closest to his heart, the Mahābhārata is his treasured book, and Yama is his favorite poet. As a scholar dedicated to reviving and contextualizing Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) for contemporary audiences, his work bridges millennia of wisdom with modern understanding through Nāṭyaśāstra, Rasa theory, and Vedic traditions.

SU

Suraiya Islam Ria

PV-2026-0007

Research Scholar at Banaras Hindu University

Suraiya Islam Ria is an accomplished Kathak dancer and researcher with extensive experience in performance, workshops, teaching, and cultural collaborations. She is currently pursuing her PhD at Banaras Hindu University. Deeply rooted in the classical tradition of Kathak, her artistic practice also engages with contemporary perspectives and interpretations of the form. Her work brings together sustained dance practice and scholarly inquiry, exploring the aesthetic, expressive, theoretical, and cultural dimensions of Kathak. Her academic research seeks to develop a deeper understanding of Kathak as a living classical tradition while contributing to the broader theoretical and scholarly discourse surrounding Indian classical dance.

TI

Tirtha

PV-2026-0028

Poet | Author | Researcher | Assistant Professor, Centre for Indic Studies, Indus University | Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Sanātana Dharma

AR

Arjun Bharadwaj

PV-2026-AB06

Prekshaa Journal

Arjun Bharadwaj is an author and researcher with a deep interest in classical literature, arts, and philosophy. An engineer by training, he is well-versed in Sanskrit (MA), Kannada, English, German (ZMP), and Greek. Arjun works as a contributing editor of Prekshaa and is currently studying the comparative aesthetics of classical Greek and Indian arts and literature.

Contributing scholar to the Poorvam research ecosystem.

BA

Bartholomew Ryan

PV-2026-BR10

NOVA University of Lisbon

Bartholomew Ryan is a philosopher and musician, and holds a position as Research Professor of Philosophy at NOVA University of Lisbon in Portugal, where he is also lecturer at the Department of Philosophy. Amongst his various publications, he is the author of the philosophical biography Critical Lives: Fernando Pessoa (Reaktion 2024) and Kierkegaard’s Indirect Politics (Brill 2014). He fronts the international dream-folk band The Loafing Heroes.

DA

Dan Zahavi

PV-2026-DZ07

University of Copenhagen

Dan Zahavi is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Subjectivity Research at the University of Copenhagen. Zahavi’s primary research area is phenomenology and philosophy of mind, and their intersection with empirical disciplines such as psychiatry, psychology, sociology, and anthropology. His work has been translated into more than 30 languages.

DE

DEBASMITA SARKAR

PV-2026-1622

Contributing scholar to the Poorvam research ecosystem.

DI

Dishari Chatterjee

PV-2026-1628

Contributing scholar to the Poorvam research ecosystem.

Contributing scholar to the Poorvam research ecosystem.

JA

Jay L. Garfield

PV-2026-JG01

Smith College / University of Melbourne

Prof. Jay L. Garfield FAHA is the Doris Silbert Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Philosophy and Buddhist Studies at Smith College, Emeritus, and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Melbourne. He is a renowned scholar specializing in Buddhist philosophy, cross-cultural hermeneutics, and Indian philosophy, with numerous influential publications bridging Eastern and Western philosophical traditions.

JO

Jonardon Ganeri

PV-2026-JG04

University of Toronto

Jonardon Ganeri is the Bimal K. Matilal Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. He is a philosopher whose work draws on a variety of philosophical traditions to construct new positions in the philosophy of mind, metaphysics and epistemology. He joined the Fellowship of the British Academy in 2015, and won the Infosys Prize in the Humanities. He delivered the 2024 John Locke Lectures at the University of Oxford.

MA

Madhucchanda Sen

PV-2026-MS09

Jadavpur University

Prof. Madhucchanda Sen is a Professor of Philosophy at Jadavpur University, where she has been teaching since 2011. She taught at Rabindra Bharati University from 2001 to 2011. She was educated at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, and University College London. Her major areas of research interest are Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Language, Critical Thinking, and Epistemology. She was a Visiting Professor under ERASMUS programme at University of Bologna, Italy.

MO

Monima Chadha

PV-2026-MC03

University of Oxford

Monima Chadha is Professor of Indian Philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford. Her main research interests are in the Philosophy of mind in the classical Indian and contemporary western traditions, most recently focused on the Buddhist no-self views and their implications for our concepts of subjectivity, agency, responsibility, and ethical life.

NA

Nalini Bhushan

PV-2026-NB02

Smith College

Prof. Nalini Bhushan is Andrew W. Mellon Professor Emerita in the Humanities and Professor Emerita of Philosophy at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. Her research focuses on Indian philosophy, feminist philosophy, and cross-cultural philosophy. She has made significant contributions to making Indian philosophical texts accessible to contemporary audiences through rigorous translation and scholarly interpretation.

Contributing scholar to the Poorvam research ecosystem.

NI

Nirmalya Narayan Chakraborty

PV-2026-NC08

Presidency University, Kolkata / ICPR

Nirmalya Narayan Chakraborty is presently Vice-Chancellor of Presidency University, Kolkata and Chairman, Indian Council of Philosophical Research (ICPR), New Delhi. He was a Professor of Philosophy at Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata. He has been a Visiting Fellow at several Universities including Glasgow, Pune, Hyderabad, and Naples.

Contributing scholar to the Poorvam research ecosystem.

Associate Professor of English at Suri Vidyasagar College and External Faculty at EFLU Hyderabad. Former Principal of Rampurhat College.

Contributing scholar to the Poorvam research ecosystem.

Contributing scholar to the Poorvam research ecosystem.

RU

Ruth Vanita

PV-2026-RV11

University of Montana, Missoula

Ruth Vanita is a scholar, writer, and translator whose work spans Indian literary history, gender and sexuality studies, and the classical Sanskrit tradition. She is the author and editor of numerous books, including Same-Sex Love in India (co-edited with Saleem Kidwai), Love's Rite, Gender, Sex, and the City, and The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics: Debates on Gender, Varna, and Species (Oxford University Press, 2022). She co-founded the feminist magazine Manushi and taught at the University of Montana.

Contributing scholar to the Poorvam research ecosystem.

Contributing scholar to the Poorvam research ecosystem.

Contributing scholar to the Poorvam research ecosystem.

SW

Swami Medhananda

PV-2026-SM05

Vedanta Society of Southern California / UCLA & USC

Swami Medhananda is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order and an academic philosopher, currently serving as Senior Research Fellow in Philosophy at the Vedanta Society of Southern California in Hollywood. He is also the Hindu Chaplain at UCLA and the University of Southern California, and Section Editor for the International Journal of Hindu Studies (Springer).

SW

Swastik Banerjee

PV-2026-1615

Contributing scholar to the Poorvam research ecosystem.

Contributing scholar to the Poorvam research ecosystem.

Contributing scholar to the Poorvam research ecosystem.

Distinguished dance scholar and former Head of the Department of Indian and Asian Dance, University of the Visual and Performing Arts, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Expert in Kathak and comparative Asian dance traditions.

RA

Dr. Raj Raj Mukhopadhyay

PV-2026-1611

Michael Madhusudan Memorial College, West Bengal

Dr. Raj Raj Mukhopadhyay is Chief Reviewer for PIJCACE and Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Michael Madhusudan Memorial College, West Bengal.

Assistant Professor in the School of Buddhist Studies, Philosophy & Comparative Religions at Nalanda University, Rajgir. Head of the Advisory Board for Poorvam Foundation and PIJCACE.

SA

Dr. Samrat Bisai

PV-2026-1614

Ramakrishna Mission Brahmananda College of Education, Rahara, Kolkata

Dr. Samrat Bisai holds a Ph.D. from IIT Patna and is an Assistant Professor at Ramakrishna Mission Brahmananda College of Education. He serves as the Managing Editor of PIJCACE.

Assistant Professor in the Department of Performing Arts, Pondicherry University. Specializes in indigenous performance traditions, ritual theatre, and community-engaged theatrical practices in South India.

Assistant Professor in the Department of Sarvadarshan at Central Sanskrit University, Jammu. Recognized scholar of Trika Shaivism, Kashmir Shaiva aesthetics, and classical Sanskrit philosophical traditions.

Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Arts, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi. Specialist in Indian visual arts, painting iconography, and classical aesthetics.

Contributing scholar to the Poorvam research ecosystem.

AN

Prof. Anura Manatunga

PV-2026-AM13

University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

Senior Professor of Archaeology at the University of Kelaniya and former Director-General of Archaeology, Sri Lanka. Renowned international authority on South Asian historical archaeology, epigraphical heritage, and Buddhist cultural exchanges across South and Southeast Asia.

Director of the Centre for Social Reconciliation and Professor of Theatre at the University of the Visual and Performing Arts, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Leading international researcher in somatic performance theory and South Asian actor training.