Prathik Murali is a PhD student studying Hinduism at the University of Florida. He earned his M.A. in Historical Studies from Madras University and completed a graduate program in Manuscriptology and Palaeography. He is equipped with intense training from traditional scholars in languages such as Tamil, Sanskrit and Maṇipravālam. As a scholar of texts, his primary research interest focuses on pre-modern Vaiṣṇava poetry of the Āḻvārs and the Maṇipravāla commentaries on them. He proposes to study these texts, with a special focus on issues of caste, gender and sexuality. He is currently working on a project along with other scholars to translate a 13th-centuryMaṇipravāla text. He has worked on a manuscript conservation project for the British Library as a manuscriptologist. He has also been a consultant for the Government of Tamilnadu in India for various projects on temple conservation, providing his expertise in epigraphy and temple architecture. He has lectured in many forums on his areas of research including at the culture ministry of India, Jawaharlal Nehru University, The University of Madras, Madras Museum and Amrita University.