Vasudha Narayanan

Founder, Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions

Vasudha Narayanan is Distinguished Professor in the Department of Religion at the University of Florida. The "On Faith" panelist also served as president of the American Academy of Religion in 2001-2002. With the University, Narayanan created the nation's first Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions (CHiTra) to encourage the research, teaching and public understanding of Hindu culture and traditions. She was educated at the Universities of Madras and Bombay in India, and at Harvard University. Her fields of interest are the Sri Vaishnava tradition; Hindu traditions in India, Cambodia, America; Hinduism and the environment; and gender issues. She is currently working on Hindu temples and Vaishnava traditions in Cambodia. Her research has been supported by grants and fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies (2004-2005); National Endowment for the Humanities (1987, 1989-90, and 1998-99), the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation (1991-92), the American Institute of Indian Studies/ Smithsonian , and the Social Science Research Council. She was president of the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies from 1996-1998. Narayanan is the author and editor of six books, and of over 90 articles, book chapters or encyclopedia entries. Her books include Hinduism (2004); The Vernacular Veda: Revelation, Recitation, and Ritual (1994); The Way and the Goal: Expressions of Devotion in the Early Srivaisnava Tradition (1987); and with co-auathor John Carman, The Tamil Veda: Pillan's Interpretation of the Tiruvaymoli (1989). Close.