Dr. Chakrabarty holds a PhD from Tezpur University, Assam, where her doctoral dissertation was titled Oral Tradition of Śrīmad Bhāgavata Kathā and its Contribution to the Cultural Memory of India. Her thesis utilizes sensory ethnography and performance studies frameworks to investigate the functional, aesthetic, and socio-cultural shifts in contemporary Puranic storytelling across major North and North-East Indian religious landscapes. Her core research operates at the intersection of media, performance, and classical Indian heritage. Her specialized research interests include Performance Studies in Communication, Indian Theories of Aesthetics and Vaishnava Poetics, Religious Storytelling and oral Literacies, Indian Narrative Theories, Puranic Knowledge Systems and Philosophy. Her research methodology specialisation lies in qualitative techniques, specifically, sensory and critical ethnography, narrative analysis and paradigm for performance studies in communication research. 

 

Alignment with the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies (OCHS)

 

Her academic engagement with OCHS includes completing advanced text-critical online modules on The Puranas conducted by the Centre in 2019 and 2020. She has also completed specialized foundational training in Sanskrit through the Sanskrit Aradhana program, enabling her to bridge traditional text-critical philology with modern cultural-communicative methodologies.

 

Role in the Project

 

As a Member of the Bhagavata Research Project, her role leverages her background in performance studies and sensory ethnography to examine the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa as a living, performative phenomenon. Grounded in the understanding that the text of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa frames the performance of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Kathā performance, it is also the Kathā format that has been instrumental in reaching the didactics and aesthetics of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa to both the intelligentsia and the masses alike. In her thesis, she analyses how the oral performance of Bhāgavata Kathā functions as a communicative and discursive space within Indian culture.

 

Her specific research contributions focus on three interconnected areas:

• Functional Discursive Spaces: She investigates Bhāgavata Kathā as an interactive site of socialisation where personal transformations occur, identities are negotiated, and cultural memory is transmitted.

• Aesthetic and Living Dimensions of Religion: She documents how contemporary Kathāvāchakas (storytellers) use distinct communicative devices, music, and poetry to translate complex philosophy into an experiential reality for modern audiences.

• Socio-Cultural and Technological Shifts: She tracks the evolution of Kathā formats from localized temple spaces to modern digital landscapes, such as satellite television, YouTube streaming, and podcasts, to map how the text continuously adapts to a changing global milieu.

 

This work directly bridges classical text-critical philology with modern communication frameworks. By exploring how these live performances adapt to evolving social structures, her research addresses a crucial gap in current Indological scholarship. Ultimately, her role contributes critical ethnographical and analytical insights to the project's broader mission of decoding Puranic knowledge systems and their enduring role in shaping India’s sacred, secular, and artistic ethos.

 

Key Publications & Scholarly Contributions:

​

Dr. Chakrabarty actively publishes in international Scopus, Web of Science (WoS), and ERIHPLUS-indexed journals:

1. Paper titled “Performing the Divine’s Narratives: An Exploration of the Kathāvāchaka Tradition of Storytelling", for Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society. Vol. 11 (Brill; WoS, Scopus, ERIHPLUS),  https://doi.org/10.30965/23642807-bja10142
   Storytelling sessions based on sacred narratives called Kathā are a conspicuous feature of devotional Hinduism. Kathās are performed by exponents who belong to an ancient tradition of oral scholarship, and are variously called as Kathākāras, Kathāvācakas, and Kathā Vyāsa. By contextualising the wisdom of ancient rishis with contemporary andsocially relevant content, the Kathākaras transform the site of the Kathā into a discursive space. They are revered as saints in India and have a massive following that also regards them as gurus. Utilising the Weberian concept of charisma, the present paper will therefore examine the factors that have been instrumental in establishing the venerable status of Kathākaras
    

2. Paper titled “Bhānusingha Thākurer Podābolī”: A Study of Vaiṣṇava Aesthetics in Tagore’s Poetry, published the Journal Language, Literature and Interdisciplinary Studies (LLIDS), vol. 5, no. 3, 20 May 2023, pp. 42–60 (journal indexed in DOAJ, ERIHPLUS).  https://doi.org/10.71106/CMWM7800
   This paper analyses Tagore’s portrayal of Rādhā which is akin to the trend that began at least in the 1st century AD, when Rādhā became the muse of both sacred and secular artistic productions. In the sacred tradition, her stature rivals that of Kr̥ṣṇa’s, where her devotion served as a model for the founders of Vaiṣṇava sects in formulating their spiritual practices, while in the secular tradition, her pan-Indian popularity alongside Kr̥ṣṇa is reflected in the performative traditions, where their sports in Vrindāvana have inspired music, dance, and the arts of different regions, as well as the popular culture of modern times. The Vaiṣṇava aesthetic theory, which bridges the gap between aesthetics of dramaturgy and religious practices, also owes its development to Rādhā. The paper explores the development of Rādhā in both secular and religious literary traditions, with special reference to Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism of Bengal. The paper further attempts to study Rādhā as Tagore’s heroine which was influenced by Vaiṣṇava lyrics and themes, and popularised by poets in Bengal since the 12th century AD.
    

3. Paper titled Storytellers of the Divine: An Analysis of the Bhagavata Kathavachaka Tradition, in the Conference Proceedings of the National Media Conclave, organised by the Institute of Media Studies, Utkal University, Odisha, November 21-23, 2022, https://inmc.org.in/conclave2022/con_2017/img/sessions/Proceedings.pdf
   This article discusses the tradition of the Kathavachakas, their history, evolution and current status.

​​

 

Papers Presented at Conference

1. Presented a paper titled Dharma: Concept, Instruction and Application in the Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana, at National Seminar on Religion and Society, organised by NBCLC, Bangalore, August 7-8, 2023.

2. Presented a paper titled Religious Storytelling in the Service of the Deity and the Devotee: An Exploration of Srimad Bhagavata Katha and its Socio-Cultural Significance for Indian Society, at IAMCR (OCP 23- the online component of IAMCR 2023), Lyon, June 26-July 13, 2023.

3. Presented a paper titled, Srimad Bhagavata Katha: An Analysis of Instructional Storytelling Based on Puranic Knowledge System, at a Two-Day International Conference at ICON-2023, organised by School of Management Sciences, Varanasi, on the topic ‘Indian Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Well-Being’, March 4-5, 2023.

4. Presented a paper titled, Storytellers of the Divine: An Analysis of the Bhagavata Kathavachaka Tradition, at the National Media Conclave, organised by the Institute of Media Studies, Utkal University, Odisha, November 21-23, 2022.

 

Contact

Dr. Ujjaini Chakrabarty

Assistant Professor

Department of Journalism and Mass Communication

Vishwakarma University

+91-8794284056
cujjaini@yahoo.com

ujjaini.chakrabarty@vupune.ac.in