Applications will open in September 2027

INDICA and Veda Studies are delighted to launch the Nitya Stotram Teacher Training Programme, a natural expansion of our chanting teacher training into one of the most important and widely practised forms of Sanskrit devotional literature. This programme is designed for graduates of Level 1 who wish to extend their teaching into the rich body of hymns from the Itihāsa-s and Purāṇa-s.

The Itihāsa-s (the great epics, the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata) and the Purāṇa-s (the eighteen Mahāpurāṇa-s and their companion texts) together form the vast narrative literature of the tradition, carrying its stories of the deities, its cosmology and sacred geography, and its enduring vision of dharma and devotion.

From this landscape the stotra tradition emerges as one of the most beloved and continuously living expressions of Sanskrit devotion. Composed across centuries by sages, poets, and ācāryas — and most prolifically by Ādi Śaṅkara himself — these hymns weave together prayer, philosophy, iconography, and prosody into a body of literature that is at once classical in form and devotional in spirit. It is also a recognised and significant strand of Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS), carrying within it the cultural, literary, and devotional inheritance of centuries.

Where Vedic recitation grounds the teacher in the foundations of svara and śīkṣā, the stotra tradition opens the path into deity, story, festival, and the rhythms of the devotional year. Within this programme, the fifteen stotrams will be studied through stotra-sāhitya, Sanskrit prosody (chandas), Itihāsa and Purāṇa literature, and the principal deities of the tradition, so that teachers may refine their recitation and acquire the contextual understanding to teach with clarity, accuracy, and devotion.

The fifteen stotrams (pañcadaśa stotrāṇi): Gaṇapati Stotram, Prātaḥ Smaraṇam, Gurustotram, Lalitā Triśati, Āditya Hṛdayam, Śivamānasa Pūja, Liṅgāṣṭakam, Śivapañcākṣara Stotram, Dakṣiṇāmūrti Stotram, Annapūrṇa Stotram, Mahālakṣmī Aṣṭakam, Hanumān Stuti, Rāmarakṣā Stotram, Devī Kavacam, Narasimha Kavacam.

These fifteen have been chosen to be representative of this literature in both its breadth and its depth: spanning several deities, drawing on a range of genres (stuti, stotram, aṣṭakam, kavacam, triśati), and including texts of major significance, from short and approachable hymns to longer, more demanding compositions. Studied together, they also open a window onto the much wider body of stotra-s that lies beyond what is chanted in this programme.

Dear interested student,

This training will emphasise the depth of understanding required to teach the stotrams with precision, presence, and contextual clarity. A close engagement with the deities, the stories, the prosody, and the textual sources of these hymns will be central to the learning process. Beyond recitation refinement, the programme will focus on the pedagogy of teaching stotra literature — how to convey meaning, story, and devotional spirit to students who come to these texts from a range of backgrounds.

This training will be steady and immersive, designed for teachers who already know the fifteen stotrams of the Nitya Stotram album, building on the foundation of the thirty-five Nitya Prārthanā chants taught in Level 1. It will be conducted online from September 2028 to July 2029.

I am very grateful to offer this in collaboration with INDICA who bring the experience and expertise in the preservation and dissemination of Indic knowledge systems through authentic, immersive and transformative learning experiences.

I hope this curriculum inspires you to deepen your journey as a teacher.

With gratitude, 

Shantala Sriramaiah

Program structure

The group will meet online once a month for a weekend session (2 hours each on Saturday and Sunday between September and July. Additionally, there will be a one-hour session on one Friday each month. Each student will also be required to schedule a one-to-one meeting with Shantala to recite a selection of stotram-s. A calendar tool will be made available to facilitate this.

All the dates are published along with the curriculum.

Dr. Raj Balkaran is a scholar of Sanskrit narrative literature whose work centres on the myths of the Indian Great Goddess and the Sanskrit Epics, with particular focus on the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa and the Devī Māhātmyam. He is the author of The Stories Behind the Poses: The Indian Mythology That Inspired 50 Yoga Postures (Leaping Hare Press, 2022), as well as two academic monographs, The Goddess and the King in Indian Myth (Routledge, 2019) and The Goddess and the Sun in Indian Myth (Routledge, 2020), and is currently completing a new translation of the Devī Māhātmyam. He tutors at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, hosts the New Books in Indian Religions podcast, and is the founder of the Indian Wisdom School, where he teaches online courses bringing together scholarly rigour, storytelling, and the lived spiritual insight of a living lineage.

Timings

Saturdays & Sundays (4pm-6pm Brussels time)

September 2028 - July 2029

+ 1 Friday each month (4pm-5pm Brussels time)

Dates are published with curriculum

Student requirements

The program pace is spaced out, allowing you time for self-practice. Applicants who already have successfully certified our Level-1 programme are invited to apply.

The Challakere Brothers’ lineage of teaching invites practitioners to reflect upon one’s lifestyle for those who wish to seriously dedicate themselves to learning, teaching, and preserving the Veda. A vegetarian and alcohol-free lifestyle is therefore encouraged.

Program objectives

At the end of this program, students will:

Blessings from The Challakere Brothers:

"Greetings to everyone, 

I would like to congratulate Mrs. Shantala on launching the Indica - Veda Studies Teacher Training Program. I sincerely believe that this program will be of great value to those learning. Shantala is a diligent student and teacher of Veda. I wholeheartedly bless this program and wish that it may benefit all those who participate.

May everyone be blessed."

Monthly Curriculum

Orientation program

Welcoming session for participants

September 2028

Gaṇapati 

October 2028

The Guru

November 2028

Sūrya / Rāma

December 2028

Hanumān / Rāma

January 2029

Śiva

February 2029

Śiva (Dakṣiṇāmūrti)

March 2029

Annapūrṇā & Lakṣmī

April 2029

Lalitā

May 2029

Devī

June 2029

Narasimha

July 2029 

Presentations & closing

Course fee

► €2497 one-time fee

► €899 × 3 instalments

► €299 × 9 monthly payments

A non-refundable deposit of €250 is required to confirm your enrollment. 

This amount will be deducted from the final fee at the time of payment.

Veda Studies will offer five (partial) scholarships – you will have the opportunity to indicate your requirement in the application process.

Resources

During this course you get access to the following resources

For who is this course?

This course is for:

   ✓  Those who have certified Level 1 certification.

   ✓  Teachers who have already have working knowledge of the 15 stotram-s.

   ✓  Teachers who wish to gain mastery on the chanting rules.

   ✓  Teachers who wish to deepen their skills and/or wish to teach these chants.

This course is not for:

   ❌  Students who have not completed our main Teacher certification.

   ❌  Those new to these hymns.

   ❌  Those unable to make time for live classes (80% attendance is required)

  ❌   Those who have not studied previously with Shantala.

Future teacher trainings

Continuing and more training may be planned in the future for teachers, but they will require levels 1 & 2 or the Nitya Stotram Certification to qualify.

1. Lalitā Sahasranāma, Viṣṇu Sahasranāma, Bhagavad Gītā (Level1 & Stotram TTC required)

2. Jyotiṣa chants – Navagraha, Nakṣatra Sūktam & Āśīrvāda mantrāḥ (Level 1 & 2)

3. Aruṇa praśnaḥ for teachers (Level 1 & 2)

4. Daśa-śantayaḥ for teachers (Level 1 & 2)

5. Ṛgveda sūktam-s (Level 1 & 2)

Your teacher

The course is developed and taught by Shantala Sriramaiah, born and raised in Bangalore, India. She studied Sanskrit and chanting from an early age, as part of her family tradition as well as in school. 

Much of her inspiration comes from her mother Saroja, who taught chanting classes in their family home for over 30 years. She continues studies with various Vedic scholars and pundits, including Guruji M.S. Sreenivasan from the Challakere Brothers, and brings all their teachings to these courses.

Apply in 2027

If you have read all the above information carefully and believe you qualify and are motivated to dedicate yourself for 9-months to certify this Stotram chanting teacher training program, we would love to hear from you from September 2027.

© Veda Studies SAGL - 2026