Rukmini Mavillapalli was four years old when her parents introduced her to the Siddha Yoga path. She attended her first Siddha Yoga Shaktipat Intensive with Gurumayi in Chennai, India, at age ten. Rukmini was a Gurukula student in Gurudev Siddha Peeth between 1994 and 2006. Over the years, she has offered seva as a music conductor, lead chanter, and music teacher. She is currently serving the SYDA Foundation as a Hindi and Sanskrit pronunciation coach for speakers in live video streams on the Siddha Yoga path website. Rukmini sang a bhajan by Tamil poet-saint Andal in a “Be in The Temple” satsang. She also played the veena in A Day in the Temple on Thanksgiving Day 2020.

Rukmini is a trained classical veena player. She is studying Dhrupad, one of the oldest forms of classical Hindustani music, under a teacher from the Dagar tradition. Rukmini lives in Chennai with her husband, S.V. Krishnan, and their twelve-year-old son, Shiva. Shiva offered his playful storytelling to Gurumayi in a “Be in the Temple” satsang.