Mrs. Kanakavalli Santhanam, describes herself as a seeker in the fields of Sanskrit, Music and Dance. Understanding ancient Indian culture, tradition, philosophy and literature forms the broad canopy of her studies. She has been the recipient of Dr.M.D.Paradkar Puraskar and Smt. Prema Tattu Gold Medal at the University of Mumbai in the pursuit of her Sanskrit Studies. She is currently pursuing her Phd in Sanskrit from the University of Mumbai where she is also a visiting faculty since 2016 for subjects like Bhakti literature, Itihasas, Puranas, Vedanta and Bhagavad Gita. She was part of the syllabus designing committee for the master’s courses as per the revised NEP 2020 guidelines at the Department of Sanskrit, University of Mumbai in 2023. She is invited as a resource person for various workshops and lecture series and has been actively presenting research papers in various state, national and international conferences and seminars since her student days. Her paper titled ‘The concept of Prapatti with special reference to Pillai Lokācārya’s Arthapañcakam’ was published in the book ‘Bhakti in Vaishnava Traditions’ published by Dev Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi under the joint efforts of the University of Mumbai and Bhaktivedanta Research Center in 2024.
Mrs. Kanakavalli has been associated with dharmawiki.org and its initiatives, outcome of an IIT Bombay project, as a core team member since December, 2017. As an author she has contributed several well-researched articles across categories like Vedanta, Dharmas, Shastras, Yoga, Temples, and Education Series on dharmawiki.org
Mrs. Kanakavalli is also trained in Carnatic and Hindustani vocals and Bharatanatyam under eminent Gurus of Bharat. She has been the recipient of the ‘Sri Shanmukhananda Bharat Ratna Dr.M.S.Subbulakshmi fellowship in Music’ by Sri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts and Sangeetha Sabha under the category of Musicology (2019-2021). And was one of the top 5 finalists for “THE HINDU SAREGAMA M S SUBBULAKSHMI AWARD” in the Mumbai region (5th Edition, 2016).
Teaching Qualifications:
• MH-SET in Sanskrit, June 2019.
• K-SET in Sanskrit, November 2024.
• UGC-NET in Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS), December 2024.