Pallavi Krishnan (21 September 1968) is a leading exponent of the dance form,

Mohiniyattam ''Mohiniyattam'' is an Indian classical dance form originating from the state of Kerala. The dance gets its name from Mohini – the female enchantress avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu, who helps the devas prevail over the asuras using h ...

. She received the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English language, English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. It is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture (India) ...

award for 2022 in Mohiniyattam from president Murmu.

Early life and education

Krishnan was born in

Durgapur Durgapur (), is an industrial hub and a planned urban agglomeration in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is stands on the northern bank of the Damodar river and located in Paschim Bardhaman district. Durgapur is a major centre for producin ...

, West Bengal, but after her post-graduate studies in Kerala, she settled in Thrissur. She did her B.Sc. in Bioscience from Burdwan University of West Bengal. But she had no interest in academics and wanted to study dance. So she did a second under-graduate degree, B.Music from

Shantiniketan Shantiniketan (IPA: �antiniketɔn is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and ...

in Kathakali, Manipuri and Rabindra Sangeeth, Viswa Bharathi University. She was spotted by guru Kalamandalam Shankaranarayanan, who felt that her abhinaya suits Mohiniyattam and initiated her into Mohiniyattam dance form. In 1992, she moved to Thrissur and did her post-graduation at Kerala Kalamandiram under Bharati Shivaji and Kalamandalam Sugandhi.

Personal life

Pallavi Krishnan, originally from

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

, has been married to cultural scholar K.K. Gopalakrishnan since 1994. The couple have a daughter, Priyamvada Krishnan, who has pursued a career in

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad range of sk ...

and classical dancing. Krishnan is deeply rooted in

spiritual practice A spiritual practice or spiritual discipline (often including spiritual exercises) is the regular or full-time performance of actions and activities undertaken for the purpose of inducing spiritual experiences and cultivating spiritual developm ...

; she has stated that she prays daily and considers faith an 'important source of strength', particularly during overseas tours, identifying

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

(one of the principal deities of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

) as the central figure in her spiritual practice.

Career

In 1994, she started Lasya Academy of Mohiniyattam at Thrissur. In 2000, she started doing choreographies in Mohiniyattam. Her Ritu-Raga is a fusion of Bengali and Kerala forms, Rabindra Sangeeth with Kerala's Sopanam music. In February 2009, she conducted a workshop for Bangladeshi dancers at Dhaka. In September 2013, she performed at Kochi in an event organised by the Bank Employee's cultural wing ‘BEAME’ in association with Ernakulam Karayogam. In 2018, she performed at Bharat Bhavan at Vazhuthacaud, Thiruvananthapuram. In December 2018, she also performed at the Soorya dance and music fete, also at Thiruvananthapuram.

Awards

* In 2008, she received the Kerala Sangeet Natak Akademi award. * She received Sushree award of the Vichar-March, Kolkata. * On 6 March 2024, she received the National Sangeet Natak Akademi award for Mohiniyattam 2022 from president Murmu.

References

External links

www.pallavikrishnan.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohapatra, Madhulita 1968 births Living people Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Mohiniyattam exponents Teachers of Indian classical dance Dancers from Kerala 20th-century Indian educators 20th-century Indian women educators 20th-century Indian dancers 20th-century Indian women artists Educators from Odisha Indian female classical dancers Indian classical choreographers Indian women choreographers Year of birth missing (living people)