S. Bhakthavatsala Bharathi was born in 1957, and studied Social Anthropology at Master's level and received Ph.D. from Mysore University.
He has been specialising on the cultures of South Indian Societies. After an Initial research among Kambalathu Nayakar ( a nomadic Telugu subcaste) during 1985-1990, he continued his ethnographic studies on Coromandel Fishermen and nomadic communities in the Tamil region. His two studies sponsored by UNESCO and Indra Gandhi National Center for the Arts, New Delhi, are significant contributions.
He is the author of numerous article, as well as several books on Tamil society and culture. Important works are: Cultural Anthropology (1990), Coromandel Fishermen (1999), Anthropology of Tamil Society (2002), Nomads in Tamilnadu (editor 2003), Lakan-Indian Anthropology (co- author 2004), Theories of Anthropology (2005), Sociocultural Anthropology (translation 2005), Tribes of Tamilnadu (2007),Vagiri Material Culture(2009). He teaches Anthropology at Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture (PILC) since 1990. Before joining in PILC, he served at Tamil University, Thanjavur, during 1985-1990.