Arts India US has announced its 2026 cohort of Lotus Fellows, selecting 10 emerging artists for a new national program intended to strengthen the Indian classical performing arts ecosystem in the United States.
The yearlong program aims to expand these artists’ professional visibility and development in the United States through workshops, mentorship, and performance opportunities.
“This group of 10 individuals astounded us with not only their creative potential, but also their drive to connect with today’s audiences in America and cement their art form’s presence in this country,” Arts India US announced in an Instagram post.
The ten selected artists are: Antara Bhattacharya, Denton, TX, Sitar; Ariaki Dandawate, New York, NY, Kathak; Harini Nilakantan
Chicago, IL, Bharatanatyam; Karthik Iyer, Aurora, IL, Carnatic Violin; Karun Salvady, Houston, TX, Mridangam; Neha Venkatesh, Seattle, WA, Bharatanatyam; Shalini Basu, New York, NY, Odissi, Shruti De, Albany, NY, Sarod; Tarika Nath, Houston, TX, Kathak; and Vedya Spurthi Konda, Austin, TX, Kuchipudi.
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Antara Bhattacharya’s musical life began almost as soon as she could speak. She was recognized by the Government of Uttar Pradesh as one of India’s youngest musicians at just two years and seven months old.
Today, Antara balances her life as a performer with her work as a PhD student in Ethnomusicology (with a minor in Media Studies), where research, teaching, and performance continually feed one another.
Ariaki Dandawate grew up in a deeply musical household, where rhythm and melody were part of daily life. When her parents enrolled her in Kathak classes at the age of seven, they unknowingly set her on a lifelong path.
Her training has been shaped by Pandita Archana Joglekar, whose lineage spans the Banaras, Lucknow, and Jaipur gharanas—an inheritance that grounds Ariaki in a rare breadth of Kathak technique and philosophy.
Outside the studio, Ariaki is a PhD student in Computational Biology at Weill Cornell Graduate School, researching the complex mechanisms of cancer.
Harini Nilakantan began her Bharatanatyam journey at the age of four in Bangalore, captivated by the rhythms of an alarippu practiced endlessly by an older cousin.
What began as childhood fascination grew into a lifelong pursuit. Her work is driven by an impulse to understand connection—across cultures, across forms, and across the internal landscapes dancers inhabit.
Deeply influenced by nature and the work of dancer–choreographers across genres, Harini remains a curious student, currently training in waacking, Chicago footwork, hip-hop, and beginning ballet. Outside the studio, she sketches and experiments on her bass.
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Karthik Iyer grew up in a household where music was a constant, shared language. His own journey deepened when he moved to India from fourth through eighth grade, immersing himself in rigorous training and completing an arangetram-like milestone before returning to the U.S. for high school.
A physics major with a minor in computer science at the University of Illinois, Karthik is fascinated by the mechanics of sound—how we capture it, shape it, and interpret it. He hopes to pursue software development or work in applied physics, bringing together his technical and artistic instincts.
Karun Salvady began learning mridangam in childhood, guided first by Sri Ramji Shankar Ayyar in Houston. Even while growing up far from South India, his early fascination with rhythm, his family’s cultural grounding, and regular visits to India shaped a strong connection to Carnatic music.
Over the last decade, Karun has performed in 500+ concerts across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and India.
Parallel to his performance career, Karun is a scholar of neuroscience and music cognition, holding degrees from the University of Texas and Goldsmiths, University of London, and recently completing a Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship researching Indian classical music and the brain.
Neha Venkatesh began learning Bharatanatyam at the age of four, but it wasn’t until she began training under Smt. Shweta Prachande in 2019—disciple of Smt. Priyadarsini Govind—that her relationship with the form transformed.
Her work has been recognized nationally, including a YoungArts Award (2022) and top honors at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana, where she placed first in Varnam and third in performance (2023).
A budding storyteller, she is drawn to character work, narrative building, and the challenge of contextualizing classical vocabulary for different audiences without diluting its integrity.
Her parallel studies in UX design have shaped her sensitivity to audience experience, inspiring her to imagine ways classical dance can feel more welcoming while maintaining its rigor and depth.
Shalini Basu began her Odissi training at the age of eight under Dr. Kaustavi Sarkar in Columbus, Ohio. Her devotion to Odissi has been recognized at the national level, including being named a National YoungArts winner in 2021.
Shalini’s work is animated by a desire to understand people and the human condition. Dance and academia, for her, are inseparable—two lenses through which she studies humanity and communicates her own questions. She hopes to continue this path toward a PhD in Dance Anthropology, shaping research that can live not just on the page but through performance.
In the coming year, Shalini will expand her Honors Thesis piece exploring the dissonance South Asian women face within Western beauty standards—continuing her commitment to telling complex, resonant stories through Odissi
Born into a family steeped in Indian classical music, Shruti De’s path seemed written long before she touched her first instrument. She began vocal training in early childhood and shifted to the sarod at the age of four.
One of the few women to pursue this demanding, traditionally male-dominated instrument, Shruti has built a performance career that bridges India and the global stage.
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She has served as the Indian ambassador for Ethno USA (2024), composed orchestral works for artists from 13 countries, toured with Ethno USA On the Road, performed at The Cedar and the North Carolina Folk Festival, and given lecture-performances at institutions such as Smith College and Penn State.
A U.S. Department of State OneBeat Fellow and recipient of multiple national scholarships and awards, Shruti is driven by the belief that naad—sound—is a unifying force capable of dissolving boundaries.
Her parallel academic life echoes this conviction: she is equally at home in scientific inquiry, with published research exploring the confluence of physics and music.
Tarika Nath began her artistic journey at the age of three under her mother, Guru Smt. Shiva Mathur. Tarika’s work has been presented on prominent stages across Houston, including the Houston Barnstorm Dance Fest, where she debuted her original work “Sampark.”
As both performer and educator, Tarika serves as Assistant Director at Shivangini Academy of Arts, where she teaches technique, mentors dancers, and continues her mother’s legacy of shaping strong, independent-thinking artists.
Outside the studio, her career as a Certified Financial Planner informs her artistic life with structure, foresight, and a commitment to empowering women through financial literacy.
Vedya Spurthi Konda’s journey with Kuchipudi began in San Jose at the age of four, sparked by watching Baapu’s “Bhagavatam” and becoming utterly captivated by the character of Satyabhama.
Over the years, Vedya has performed across seven countries, presenting Kuchipudi on stages that reflect both its classical depth and global relevance.
A 2017 National YoungArts Winner, she holds a Diploma in Kuchipudi from the University of Silicon Andhra and is a recipient of the 2021 Apprenticeship Grant from the Alliance for California Traditional Arts.
Outside the studio, she works as a UX designer at IBM, where her artistic training informs her approach to empathy, narrative, and human-centered design.