Nataraja Ramakrishna (21 March 1923 – 7 June 2011) was an Indian dance guru. He was the chairman of Andhra Pradesh Sangeeta Nataka Academy. He was also a scholar and musicologist who promoted classical dance in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

and worldwide.

Early life

Ramakrishna was born in

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

to an ethnic Indian migrant family of Telugu descent from the Indian state of

whose parents are named, Damayanti Devi who hailed from Nalgonda, and Ramamohan Rao, from East Godavari. His mother was a

Veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( IAST: vīṇā), is any of various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps.

exponent. Ramakrishna lost his mother at the age of three. The family later returned to India. From his childhood, Ramakrishna was interested in classical dance forms. He left his family and property for the love of art since his father did not approve of it. He spent his boyhood in Ramakrishna Math at

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

and Mahatma Gandhi's ashram. His elder brother Shyama Sundar was his mentor. During his childhood he came in touch with gurus like Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, Vedantam Laxminarayana Sastry, Naidupeta Rajamma, Pendyala Satyabhama and Jampa Muthyam under whom he learnt various forms of art. His first dance teacher was Sukhdev Kartak in

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

Dance and awards

His dance performance before the royal assembly consisting of scholars, poets, art critics and the elite of

city was his turning point. At the age of 18, he was given the title of ‘Nataraja' in Nagpur, by the then ruler of

Maratha The Marathi people (; Marathi: , ''Marāṭhī lōk'') or Marathis (Marathi: मराठी, ''Marāṭhī'') are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-A ...

. He was the architect of the revival of the Andhra Natyam dance form, a devotional temple dance tradition performed in Andhra Pradesh for over 2000 years until virtually extinc

He is also known for reviving Perini Shivatandavam, 700-year-old dance form and brought international fame to it along with Kuchipudi, another traditional dance form. On request of the then

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (19 May 1913 – 1 June 1996) was an Indian politician who served as the president of India, serving from 1977 to 1982. Beginning a long political career with the Indian National Congress Party in the independence movem ...

he established Nritya Niketan - a dance school at

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

. Other awards bestowed upon him were the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

in 1992, "Kala Prapoorna" – a doctorate from the

Andhra University Andhra University is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. It is graded as an A++ institution by NAAC receiving a score of 3.74 on a scale of 4. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Mah ...

and a ‘Bharata Kala Prapoorna,'- by Andhra Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi and NTR State Award by Andhra Pradesh State government. He was awarded with Raja-Lakshmi Award in 1991. Over his long career he trained many dancers and wrote and choreographed highly acclaimed dance dramas. He helped to propagate Chindu Yakshaganam ( Telugu: చిందు-యక్షగానం), an ancient folk form of

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

and revived other folk arts like Tappetagullu (Telugu: తప్పెటగుళ్లు) of Srikakulam and

Vizianagaram Vizianagaram, also known as Vijayanagaram, is a city and the headquarters of the Vizianagaram district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in the Eastern Ghats, about west of the Bay of Bengal and north-northeast of Visakhapa ...

districts, Veera Natyam and Garagalu of East and West Godavari districts, Devadasi dance and dance tradition of temples performing Adhyatma Ramayana. He also helped and encouraged dance artistes like Dommaras, Guravayyalu, Urumulu and Veedi Bhagavatulu. He also practiced Satvikabhinaya- a dance art. He composed life of Lord

Venkateswara Venkateswara (, ), also known as Venkatachalapati, Venkata, Balaji and Srinivasa, is a Hindu deity, described as a form or avatar of the god Vishnu. He is the presiding deity of Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala, Venkateswara Temple, Tirupati. Hi ...

as a "Nrutya nataka" (

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

). As a research scholar sponsored by the Government of India, he worked in the then

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(now

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) and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to propagate Indian dance art, making a comparative study of Indian and western Classical and folk dances.Lal, Mohan (2006). The Encyclopaedia Of Indian Literature, Volume 5. Sahitya Akademi. p. 4385. . He was bestowed with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (Academi Ratna) on 21 January 2011. He wrote more than 40 books, many of them highly awarded, and his contribution to the art of dance is widely recognized. With his innumerable performances, lecture demonstrations and through his extensive travels he created an awareness not only of Kuchipudi dance, but also revived the lost and forgotten dance forms of Andhra Pradesh. He was awarded Bharata kala prapoorna award.

Death

As per his wish, Nataraja Ramakrishna was laid to rest in a plot allotted by Government near the Taramati Baradari in

, built by seventh Sultan of Golconda, Abdullah Qutb Shah who as an ode to his favorite courtesan, Taramati.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramakrishna, Nataraja Indian male dancers People from Bali Indian expatriates in Indonesia 1933 births 2011 deaths Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts People from Nalgonda district Dancers from Andhra Pradesh Telugu people Kuchipudi exponents Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award