Prof. Anil Kumar Gourishetty, Professor and Head, Center for IKS. E-mail: head@iks.iitr.ac.in

Areas of interest: Indian Astronomy and Sanskrit Promotion

At present, I am involved in teaching Indian Astronomy as part of the course "Introduction to IKS" at UG and PG levels. In terms of research, I am working on the development of Sanskrit translator (in collaboration) as part of a project funded by IKS division, Ministry of Education. Also, I am part of a DST sponsored research project on documentation of traditional knowledge in Janjatiya community (tribal community) of Chhattisgarh state.

Prof. Hemant Kumar

Areas of interest - hydrology; sustainable water resources management

My research with IKS center will focus on augmenting present-day water resource management with historical practices such as gabarbands (dams made of stones to store and control water flow) of Sindhu-Saraswati civilization. I will also focus on investigatnig the concept of water-cycle as mentioned in the Vedas and its potential pedagogical applications.

Prof. Partha Roy

Areas of interest - Indian traditional healthcare system

Teaching: I am currently involved in teaching traditional knowledge based therapeutic systems under the curriculum of "Indian Traditional Knowledge (IKS)". This part of lecture series involves introducing students about the currently used various therapeutic systems which has been used since ages like Ayurveda, Siddha, Unnani, Homeopathy. The students gets a glimpse of the principles involved in these therapeutic systems. Understanding the philosophy of these therapeutic systems will help them to look for the actual science involved in it. That is the major goal of this course where the students will learn to correlate and then appreciate these age old practices. The last part of the course mainly focuses on the Ayurvedic system in terms of diagnosis and therapy that talks about various types of medications available in Ayurveda and the principles involved in their usages.

Research: Our group is involved understanding and validating the traditional knowledge of healthcare systems in the light of modern scientific techniques and tools. For this, we select the various natural products (either singly or in formulations) which has a long history of their usage as per the traditional healthcare systems like Ayurveda, Siddha, Unnani and even Homeopathy and try to understand their mechanisms of actions using animal/human cell lines and animal models. In other words, we are trying to follow a "Reverse Pharmacology" approach to understand their mechanisms of actions and the principal compounds involved in it. This sort of scientific information actually helps the globalisation of local traditional knowledge because once the therapeutic efficacy is backed by scientific evidences, the medicines become much more acceptable to the global population. In this direction we have already established a number of traditionally used medical plants and/ or products for their therapeutic efficacy using cell lines and animal models. We have collaborations with various traditional healers, Ayurvedic, Unnani and Homeopathy practitioners who helps us with various authentic medicines for our testing purposes. Our group is open for any such collaboration and anyone interested may reach us.

Prof. Pavankumar Satuluri

Areas of interest - Paninian Grammar, Sanskrit Language, Sanskrit Computational Linguistics, Natural Language Processing and Philosophy of Language

Teaching and Research Dr. Pavankumar holds a doctorate from the University of Hyderabad. His research work 'Sanskrit Compound Generation: with a Focus on the Order of Operations' is at the intersection of Sanskrit Grammar and Computational Linguistics. He studied Vyākaraṇa (Pāṇinian Grammar) in the traditional style from renowned scholars.

He has presented several papers at national and international conferences. He teaches the concepts of Pāṇini,Vakyaśāstraand Pramāṇaśāstra's contribution to Linguistics, Aṣṭādhyāyī from a Computational Perspective and some excerpts from Arthaśāstra as a part of the course Introduction to Indian Knowledge Systems at IIT Roorkeeand is applying the Pāṇinian framework to other Indian Languages with a special emphasis on the Kāraka theory and compounds.

Prof. Raksha Sharma

Areas of interest - Computational linguistics for Indian Languages, Information Extraction from Mythological Scriptures, and AI for Ayurveda Practices

On going Projects: Information extraction from Indian scriptures, Quantitative and qualitative analysis of traditional Indian Medical System, Unfairness in Indian Text.

Prof. Shailly Tomar

Areas of interest - Indian medicinal microbiology; Natural products as antivirals, antimicrobials, and immunomodulators; Gomutra based therapeutics; Developing Phage Therapy- The Ganga holy water

Ongoing Research: Prof. Shailly Tomar’s Molecular Virology laboratory in the Dept. of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Roorkee is working extensively for scientifically validating the known medicinal properties of various Ayurvedic medical plants. Natural products from Indian medicinal sources are investigated and evaluated for their potential to combat and cure emerging vector borne and respiratory viral pathogens namely, Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), Dengue virus, and SARS-CoV-2 etc. For over 15 years, her laboratory has been at the forefront of antiviral research achieving significant milestones in this field as evident from the research publications and patent record. Equipped with both BSLII and BSLIII facilities, the laboratories are handling various infectious viruses, and are well-equipped with equipments for conducting molecular biology, microbiology, in vitro and in vivo studies. Her practical teachings foster critical thinking and analytical skills among students and actively engages them with invaluable hands-on experiences.

Interestingly the group has discovered potent antiviral compounds against coronaviruses from natural sources like Neem and Ashwagandha to cure SARS-CoV-2 infections and the immunomodulatory effects of these have also been assessed with promising results. The group has also identified a therapeutic protein from seeds of Tamarind, commonly known as Imli, and a patent for the efficacy of the antiviral composition containing this protein has been recently granted.

Further, piperine, an alkaloid from black pepper, and thymoquinone, a natural compound isolated from kalonji seeds have been identified as having antiviral potential for the treatment of viral infections. With computational, biophysical, biochemical, and in vitro cell-based assays, the detailed antiviral mechanism of these molecules is decoded.

Additionally, using a combination of molecular identification, separation and virology techniques, the group is executing a research project on Gomutra usage against various viral infections: such as Chikungunya and Dengue.

Her laboratory is actively conducting a research project investigating bacteriophages in the Ganga water to combat drug-resistant bacterial infections. This project aims to develop phage therapy for various applications, including clinical research and the agriculture industry.

Prof. Sohom Chakrabarty

Areas of interest - Samkhya, Patanjali Yoga Sutras, Various Types of Yoga in IKS, Consciousness studies in IKS, Chaturashrama and Purushartha

Teaching: Yoga theory as part of Introduction to Indian Knowledge Systems IKS -102 course. Consciousness Studies in Samkhya and Yoga Sutras as OEC for UG students.

Research: Consciousness and Cognition Studies in IKS, IKS based modelling of human system and its interaction with the world, Chaturashrama and Purushartha as social guidelines for living a balanced and fulfilled life.

Prof. Tharun Kumar Reddy Bollu

Areas of interest - Effects of meditation and raga on neurocognition,EEG and its applications to IKS and neuroscience, Translational technologies based on IKS interventions, Integrative studies of body, mind and consciousness, and Traditional Indian Medicine/ Indian Tools Research for mental wellbeing

Given my working expertise in the domain of neurotechnology, cognition and traditional Indian Knowledge literature, I like to design and teach courses based on social neuroscience from IKS perspective, EEG usage and its analysis in codifying principles of IKS scientifically. Also, due to my interest in vedic philosophy, I am interested in continual learning and thereby co-teaching of Introduction to Darsanas, deliberations from Vedanta.

My research lies at the intersection of Effects of meditation and raga on neurocognition, EEG and its applications to IKS and neuroscience. Translational technologies based on IKS interventions, Integrative studies of body, mind and consciousness and Traditional Indian Medicine/ Indian Tools Research for mental wellbeing.

Prof. Avlokita Agrawal

Areas of interest - Vaastushastra, Contemporary application and relevance of Vaastushastra principles to Architecture, Urban Design and City Planning, Measurement system used in Vaastushastra

“Design prototype for a contemporary sustainable city on the basis of prescriptions of Vaastushastra”.

An investigation of Vāstuśāstra traditions with respect to the domains of settlement planning in historical India is attempted in this research through an analysis of the extant Vaastushastra literature to derive learnings for the design of a contemporary urban settlement.

Prof. Ram Manohar Singh

Areas of interest - Indian Psychology, Personality, Natyarashas and Emotion

My teaching and research at the Indian Knowledge Center focus on Indian ideas in psychology. In my teaching of Natyashastra, I emphasize the natyarasas and their intricate relationship with theories of emotion, arts, and aesthetics. Additionally, I integrate Indian perspectives on personality, chitta (mind), and vritti (mental states or tendencies), drawing from profound ancient texts like Sankhya Karika and the Bhagavad Gita. This holistic approach not only deepens the understanding of classical Indian arts but also enriches the comprehension of the human psyche and its expression through artistic endeavours. My research interests in Indian psychology revolve around understanding personality from an Indian perspective using the concepts of Trigunas. I also take a keen interest in developing psyche-related concepts from texts such as Patanjali’s Yogsutra.

Prof. Satyanarayan Rao

Teaching: With the blessing of Guru Anil Natyaveda, I am teaching Kalaripayattu in IKS. Kalarippayattu, a word describing practicing martial arts (Ppayattu) on the ground (Kalari) is the “

Prof. Harshit Sosan Lakra

Areas of interest: Tribal Studies: Tribal/indigenous planning and housing design

Prof. Vishwendra Singh Poonia

Areas of interest- The Epistemology of Yoga, and A Comparative Analysis of Consciousness in Indic and Western Philosophical Traditions

Prof. Dwijendra Narain Pandey

Areas of interest - Indian Mathematics in particular Indian Trigonometry and Kerala school of mathematics.