Mungara Yamini Krishnamurthy (born 20 December 1940) is an Indian dancer of

Bharatanatyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...

and

Kuchipudi Kuchipudi () ( Telugu: ) is one of the eight major Indian classical dances. It originates from a village named Kuchipudi in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Kuchipudi is a dance-drama performance, with its roots in the ancient Hindu Sa ...

styles of dancing.

Early life

Yamini Krishnamurthy was born in

Madanapalli Madanapalle is a town in Annamayya Rajampeta district and Rajampet Lok Sabha constituency of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one if the largest city in the District. It is a Selection Grade Municipal City Council and located in Mada ...

Chittoor District Chittoor district () is one of the eight districts in the Rayalaseema region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The district headquarters is located at Chittoor. It has a population of 4,170,468 according to 2011 census of India. It lies in ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. She was brought up in

Chidambaram Chidambaram is a town and municipality in Cuddalore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, on the banks of the Vellar River where it meets the Bay of Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Chidambaram taluk. The town is believed to be o ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

Career

Yamini Krishnamurthy debuted in 1957 in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. She has the honour of being ''Asthana Nartaki'' (resident dancer) of the

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is an independent trust which manages the temples including the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh. The trust oversees the operations and finances of the richest and the most visited religious cent ...

. She was also known as "torch bearer" of Kuchipudi form of dance. She imparts dance lessons to younger dancers at her institute, Yamini School of Dance, Hauz Khas, New Delhi.

Autobiography

She released her autobiography, "A Passion For Dance", a book well received by the readers.

Awards

Her dancing career brought her many awards, including the

Padma Shree Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is confer ...

(1968)

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

(2001), and Padma Vibhushan (2016), which are among the highest

civilian award This list of civil awards and decorations is a partial index to articles about notable civil awards and decorations. It excludes Law enforcement awards and honors and ecclesiastical decorations, which are covered by separate lists. See :Civil aw ...

s of the

Republic of India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. She was honoured with "Natya Shastra" award by

Shambhavi School of Dance Shambhavi School of Dance was established in 1993 in Kengeri, Bangalore, Karnataka, India as a Gurukul for the study and practice of Indian classical dance and music. The Artistic Director of this school is Smt.Vyjayanthi Kashi who is an expon ...

at "Nayika-Excellence Personified" on the occasion of Women's Day on 8 March 2014. She gave a lecture demonstration on "Contribution of Woman to Kuchipudi". She also released a Kuchipudi Dance DVD featuring

Prateeksha Kashi ] ] Prateeksha Kashi is an Indian Kuchipudi dancer, a classical dance form of Andhra Pradesh, India. She is from the family of Dr. Gubbi Veeranna and was initiated to dance at the age of five. Ever since she has been trained in Kuchipudi, und ...

who is the daughter of Kuchipudi Dansuse Smt.

Vyjayanthi Kashi Vyjayanthi Kashi is an Indian classical dancer, a kuchipudi exponent. She is from the family of Dr Gubbi Veeranna who was an Indian theatre director, one of the pioneers and most prolific contributors to Kannada theatre. Vyjayanthi Kashi is a re ...

, artistic director of Shambhavi.

Quotes

* 'A dancer must have tremendous personality. A God like Christ and even a godman like Rajneesh had some personality. Combination of talent, dedication, creativity and being emotive is imperative. A coupling of these four qualities with technique is essential. Monotony is deterrent as it regards your style and I notice today, that new dancers perform in a startlingly similar fashion.' * 'The past has been exciting, the present extremely challenging. As for the future, it holds a lot of promise and many surprises. And I cannot wait to unravel them!' * On remaining unmarried, she said 'Marriage did not happen because it was not meant to be. As for children, all my disciples are my children.'

References

External links

Indian female classical dancers Performers of Indian classical dance Dancers from Andhra Pradesh Kuchipudi exponents Telugu people People from Chittoor district 1940 births Living people Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in arts Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts 20th-century Indian dancers 20th-century Indian women artists Women artists from Andhra Pradesh {{India-bio-stub