Vani Vignesh

Vani Vignesh is a Ph.D. student in the Divinity School at the University of Chicago pursuing a multi-area program with interests in religion, music, and art history. Her research focuses on the performative dimensions of Kannada devotional music, particularly the Haridāsa padas, examining how poetry, music, and visual culture come together to shape devotional experience. Through an interdisciplinary approach drawing on literary analysis, musicology, and art history, she explores how these compositions function not only as devotional texts but also as lived religious practices enacted through performance. Her broader research interests include bhakti traditions, vernacular literature, South Indian temple arts and architecture, Indian classical music, and performance studies.

Originally from India, Vani holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture and comes from a family of Hindustani classical musicians. She is a trained vocalist, and her background in both architecture and music continues to shape her interdisciplinary approach to the study of religion. When she is not immersed in manuscripts, Indian temple iconography, or devotional poetry, Vani enjoys practicing and performing Indian classical music, exploring museums and historic sites, and discovering art collections wherever she travels.