Dushyanth Sridhar

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Dushyanth Sridhar is an Indian speaker, writer, and creator who shares Hindu spiritual knowledge through talks, books, dance, and film. He comes from Bengaluru, Karnataka, and was born on September 19, 1986.

Education
- He studied at NSN Matriculation Higher Secondary School.
- He earned a Chemical Engineering degree from BITS Pilani and later did postgraduate studies in Chemistry at the same institution.

What he does
- He gives talks on Hindu scriptures such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavata Purana, Vishnu Purana, and the Divya Prabandham.
- He writes and performs, delivering pravacana (discourses) and harikatha (storytelling).
- He runs a charitable trust called Deśika Dayā that organizes cultural and spiritual activities.

Learning and influences
- He learned from respected teachers in the Vedanta tradition, including scholars and acaryas who specialize in Sanskrit and Hindu philosophy.

Discourses and performances
- He has delivered more than 3,500 discourses in 23 countries.

Productions and cinema
- He conceived and produced classical dance productions such as Agre Pashyāmi, Ramāyaṇa Sudhā, Śrīnivāsam Prapadye, and Araṅganin Pādaiyyil.
- As an actor, he played the lead in the Sanskrit film Vedānta Deśika (2018), about the life of Swamy Vedanta Desika; he also wrote the story and dialogues.
- He directed the Sanskrit film Sakuntalam, which starred Payal Vijay Shetty and Shubham Jaibe Sahrawat. The movie won a Special Viewers’ Choice award for Best Regional Feature Film at the Rajasthan International Film Festival.

Web series and television
- He made a special appearance as himself in the web series Periyavaa (2023), with episodes shown on FastFlix and Sri Sankara TV.

Books
- Vedānta Deśika – the peerless poet-preceptor (2018), a coffee-table book.
- Ramāyanam – Vol 1 (2024), published by HarperCollins, presenting the Ramayana as a dialogue between Narada and Valmiki.

Yatras (Heritage Tours)
- Over the last decade, he has organized heritage temple tours to about 200 temples with more than 3,500 participants.
- The tours covered Divya Desams and Abhimana Sthalams in India, as well as in Bhutan, Cambodia, Nepal, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka.
- During these trips, he gives Tamil discourses on ancient scriptures and temple architecture.

Religious activism
- In September 2024, he and historian Vikram Sampath filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court to push for accountability in temples managed by the government and to reduce government control over temples, in the wake of discussions about Tirupati Laddu ingredients.

Awards and recognitions
- 2012: Global ‘30 under 30’ Award from BITS Alumni Association
- 2014–2023: Multiple honors including Bhāgawata Bhāswan Award, Harikathā Bhārati, Pravacana Ratna Mani, Ram Bhakti Prachāra Mani, Amrita Ratnam, National Eminence Award, and other recognitions
- He has also received distinctions related to his work in spirituality, education, and cultural leadership

Dushyanth Sridhar is a multifaceted figure who blends speaking, writing, performing arts, and cinema to spread knowledge of Hindu scriptures and traditions, while also promoting temple accountability and cultural education.