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Dushyanth Sridhar

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Dushyanth Sridhar
Born
Dushyanth Sridhar

19-09-1986
Bengaluru
NationalityIndian
Alma materSudarshan Vidya Mandir (Pre-school), SRDF Vivekananda Vidyalaya (Class 1-2), The Oxford Senior Secondary School (Class 3-8), NSN Matriculation Higher Secondary School (Class 9-12), BITS Pilani – B.Sc. (Hons) [Chemical Engg.] and M.Sc. (Hons) [Chemistry]
Websitehttps://www.desikadaya.org/

Dushyanth Sridhar is a speaker, and delivers talks on Hindu spiritual topics, including the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavata Mahapurana, Vishnu Purana, Divya Prabandham, and the lives and works of Hindu saints. He renders traditional pravacana (discourses), is a harikatha exponent, author, director and actor.

He manages Deśika Dayā, a charitable trust that has carried out extensive cultural and spiritual activities. His initiative titled ‘abhinava-e-pāṭhaśālā’ taught vedic content (during the pandemic) to over 7,000 śiṣyas worldwide sans discrimination.

Education

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Dushyanth Sridhar is an alumnus of Sudarshan Vidya Mandir, SRDF Vivekananda Vidyalaya, The Oxford Senior Secondary School, and NSN Matriculation Higher Secondary School. He completed his B.Sc. (Chemical Engg) and M.Sc. (Chemistry) degrees from BITS Pilani.[1] He also interned at the Indian Institute of Science as an IAS fellow.

Gurus and Acaryas

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He has learnt Śrī Bhāṣyam, Gītā Bhāṣyam, Rahasya Traya Sāram, Bhagavad Viṣayam, Śatadūṣaṇī and Tirunetuntāṇṭakam from ācāryas like Villivalam Śrī Nārāyaṇa Mahādeśika, Nāvalpākkam Śrī Rāmānuja Tātācār, Cetlur Śrī Śrīvatsānkācār, Nelvoy Śrī Soumyanārāyaṇācār, Villur Śrī Karuṇākarācār and Devanārvilāgam Śrī Sāranāthācār.[citation needed]

Talks and Discourses

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Sridhar delivering a discourse

Dushyanth Sridhar has delivered over 3,500 discourses across 23 countries.[2] His YouTube channel[3] has over 200K subscribers.[1]

Productions

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He has conceptualized and produced classical dance productions including ‘Agre Paśyāmi[4], ‘Rāmāyaṇa Sudhā[5], ‘Śrīnivāsam Prapadye[6] and ‘Araṅganin Pādaiyyil[7].

Movies

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Movies (Actor)

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Dushyanth Sridhar acted as the protagonist in the maṇipravāla movie 'Vedānta Deśika', produced and directed by veteran film-maker Muktha Srinivasan (2018). The movie was a portrayal of the life of Swamy Vedanta Desika. He learnt maṇipravāla (a mixture of Tamil and Sanskrit, spoken in earlier times), and wrote the storyline and dialogues for the movie.[8]

Movies (Director)

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Dushyanth Sridhar directed the award-winning Sanskrit[9] movie, ‘Śākuntalaṃ’, starring Payal Vijay Shetty and Shubham Jaibeer Sahrawat (2023). While 95 per cent of the film is in Sanskrit, the rest is in Prakrit. The dubbing of dialogues for Shubham was done by Dushyanth Sridhar.[10] At the Rajasthan International Film Festival 2022 held at Jodhpur, the movie won the Special Viewers’ Choice award for Best Regional Feature Film.

Web-tele series

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Special appearance

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2023 Periyavaa Himself(episode 14 &15)
  • aired in Web channel in Bombay Chanakya's FastFlix
  • later re-aired in Sri Sankara TV channel.

Books

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Dushyanth Sridhar authoured a coffee-table book[11] titled ‘Vedānta Deśikathe peerless poet-preceptor’ for the JSJS trust (2018).[12]

In 2024, he published ‘Rāmāyanam – Vol 1’ (HarperCollins). In it, Dushyanth presents the Ramayana as a dialogue between Narada and Valmiki,[13] [14]

Yatras (Heritage Tours)

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In the last decade, Dushyanth Sridhar has organized heritage tours to 200 temples with over 3,500 yātrīs. The yātrās have been organized to Divya Desams and Abhimana Sthalams in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh; Kashmir Yatra; Bhutan, Cambodia, Nepal, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. During these yātrās, he has rendered discourses (in Tamil) on ancient Hindu scriptures, and details of the visiting sites, in both aspects viz. religion and architecture.

Socio-Cultural Causes

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PIL filed over Tirupathi Laddu Adulteration

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On 19 September 2024, a massive controversy erupted when the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu, claimed that, during the administration of the former Chief Minister, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the ghee used for Tirupati laddu included beef tallow, fish oil, and pig lard in its ingredients. The Sri Venkateswara Temple in Tirumala, Tirupati, is regarded as one of the holiest sites for Hindus, and the news of adulteration of the offerings that would be sanctified and offered to devotees sparked outrage, with many accusing the authorities of disrespecting religious sentiments.[15]

On 24 September 2024, Dushyanth Sridhar, along with historian and author Vikram Sampath, filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court of India, to move the Court to establish accountability in Hindu temples managed by government bodies, and to divest government / bureaucratic hold over temples.[16]

Awards and Recognitions

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2023 Rāma Bhakti Prachāra Mani Title by SASTRA Satsangh[17]

T S Balakrishna Sastrigal Award of Excellence by TSB Family

National Health Award by AYUSH TV

Pravacana Vachaspati Title by V Narayana Iyer Memorial Trust

2023 Vāk Vilāsa Amrita Ratnam Title by Amara Bharati Publications

Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati National Eminence Award from SIES Institution[18]

2022 Sat-sampradāya Prachāra Kesari Title by Sri Hayagreeva Vidyā Peetam

Bhāratiya Sanskriti Jāgran Puraskār Title by Carnatica Archival Centre

2021 Pravachana Ratna Mani Title by Poundareekapuram Srimad Andavan Ashramam
2018 Sarva Kalā Chudāmani Title by Sri Hayagreeva Vidyā Peetam

Notable Alumnus Award from NSN Group of Institutions

2016 Harikathā Bhārati Title by Bhārat Kalāchār

Young Achievers Award from Rotary International

2014 Bhāgawata Bhāswan Sri Anjan Nambudiri Memorial Award by Mahālingapuram Sri Ayyappan Bhakta Sabhā
2012 Global ‘30 under 30’ Award from BITSAA International

References

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  1. ^ a b 'An engineer's guide for 'app' solute divinity' – New Indian Express, 7 May 2018
  2. ^ 'Modern Touch to Vedantas' – New Indian Express, 11 October 2014
  3. ^ Dushyanth Sridhar's YouTube channel
  4. ^ 'Agre Pashyami: A fine blend of verse and visuals' – The Hindu, 6 April 2023
  5. ^ 'A fine retelling of the Ramayana' – The Hindu, 21 March 2019
  6. ^ 'Journey up the seven hills' – The Hindu, 4 August 2016
  7. ^ 'It was a bumpy ride' – The Hindu, 4 June 2015
  8. ^ 'Nayagan producer back with a biopic' – Deccan Chronicle, 10 April 2016
  9. ^ '4th century single mom' – Mid-Day, 31 October 2021
  10. ^ 'Dushyanth Sridhar helms a Sanskrit film based on Kalidasa's Sakuntalam' – Times of India, 28 October 2021
  11. ^ 'The Holy Bell Of Venkateswara: 750 Years Of Vedanta Desika' – Swarajya, 18 September 2018
  12. ^ 'In love with Vedanta Desika: Dushyanth Sridhar brings out coffee table book' –The Hindu, 8 March 2018
  13. ^ 'How Narada used Sanskrit grammar to turn Valmiki's curse into a blessing' – The Print, 25 September 2024
  14. ^ 'Rediscovering the Ramayana' – New Indian Express, 25 June 2024
  15. ^ 'Spiritual Discourser Dushyanth Sridhar And Historian Vikram Sampath File PIL In Supreme Court To Bring In Accountability In Temples Following Tirupati Laddu Animal Fat Adulteration Issue' – The Commune, 24 September 2024
  16. ^ Desika Daya website: https://desikadaya.org/about
  17. ^ 'SIES Kanchi Seer awards given away' – Indian Express, 18 December 2023
  18. ^ "Hinduism should not lose its USP, and that is tolerance". Deccan Chronicle. 16 March 2015.