S. Ananda Subrahmanya Sarma

S. ANANTHA SUBRAMANYA SARMA
@ S. A. S. SARMA
Avanavanchery (Tamil Nadu), 1965

Subramanya Iyer Anantha Subramanya Sarma (@ S. A. S. Sarma) was born on 27th November 1965, in Avanavanchery Village (Dist. Trivandrum, Kerala State) where his maternal grandfather was living. His early education was in the Government Sanskrit High School, Trivandrum. He did his graduation and Post-Graduation (Sanskrit) in the Government Sanskrit College (University of Kerala), Trivandrum. After completing his post-graduation course, he joined the Adyar Library and Research Centre as a research scholar where he worked under Prof. K. Kunjunni Raja and Prof. K. V. Sarma on various indological projects. While at the Adyar Library he began work on his Ph.D at the University of Calicut under the guidance of Prof. N. V. P. Unithiri and produced a critical edition of Kapilasmṛti, which he submitted as a doctoral thesis in 1991 and subsequently published with Cesmeo (Torino, Italy, 2007).
S. A. S. Sarma joined the Pondicherry Centre of the École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO) as a researcher in 1989. During his first few years with the EFEO, he actively contributed to the preparation of the Pāṇiṇīya-Udāharaṇa-Kośa (PUK) project and also developed a software tool for this project. He co-ordinated, too, the library automation of the Indology library of the IFP/EFEO and assisted in the "Indian Analysis of the Sanskrit Language and Literature" project, led by Professor F. Grimal, which resulted in the editions of the commentaries on Anargharāghava (ed. Hari Narayana Bhat IFP/EFEO), Mahāvīracarita and Mālatīmādhava (ed. F. Grimal IFP/EFEO), and Gajasūtra (ed. SLPA Anjaneya Sarma).
He developed an interest in Sanskrit commentary literature and as a result formed a team with other scholars, namely, N. V. P. Unithiri (Rtd. Professor of Sanskrit, Calicut University) and H. N. Bhat (EFEO) and prepared a critical edition of the commentary Bhaktimandākinī by Pūrṇasarasvati on the Viṣṇupādādikeśastotra.
When a Śaiva reading group was formed at the EFEO, Sarma joined it and developed an interest in editing Śaiva texts. At present he is preparing a critical edition of the commentary of Trilocanaśiva of 12th century AD, on Somaśambhupaddhati, a Śaiva ritual manual. Editing of the Mṛgendrapaddhati of Aghoraśiva, another ritual manual, with its commentary by one Vaktraśambhu is also in progress. Sarma's interest in Śaiva texts also prompted him to study Kerala ritual manuals. These manuals are little known among scholars and, in an effort to bring them to the attention of international scholars, Sarma has published several articles on Kerala Ritual manuals and also participated in international conferences, presenting papers related to them. He is also editing certain hitherto unpublished ritual manuals of Kerala.
His interest in Tamil Bhakti literature led to his working with Jean-Luc Chevillard for several years on the Digital Tēvāram project (published in the form of a DR-Rom in 2007). S. A. S. Sarma is a member of the NETamil project, currently in progress and headed by Dr. Eva Wilden, and contributes especially to Vaiṣṇava studies within the project.
Sarma's expertise in Computer Techonology is of help to the Pondicherry Center of EFEO in its management of the computer equipment used in the center and he also co-ordinates the purchase and the maintenance of the computer equipment for the center.

S. Ananda Subrahmanya  Sarma
S. Ananda Subrahmanya Sarma

Contractuel

Research Officer at the EFEO since 1989

Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient
Centre d'Indologie
Po Box 151
16-19 rue Dumas
605 001 Pondichéry, Inde
Tél. : + 91 413 233 45 39
Fax : + 91 413 233 08 86