R Muthukannammal (born 1937) is a seventh generation veteran Sadir dancer from the Indian State of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. She is the only surviving person among the 32

Devadasi In India, a devadasi is a female artist who is dedicated to the worship and service of a deity or a temple for the rest of her life. The dedication takes place in a ceremony that is somewhat similar to a marriage ceremony. In addition to taki ...

s who served the deity at the

Viralimalai Murugan temple Viralimalai Subramanya Swamy Temple is one of the famous Hindu temples dedicated to Lord Muruga, located in the town of Viralimalai about 28 km from Trichy, 40 km from Pudukottai and 15 km from Manapparai in Tamil Nadu, India. ...

and she is the last woman to have the ceremony ''pottukkattutal'' of dedicating oneself to God performed at the Viralimalai temple. In the year 2022, Govt of India honoured Muthukannammal by conferring 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 ...

award for her contributions in the field of art. The dance form Sadir, variously called as Sadiraattam or Parathaiyar Aattam or Thevarattam, is a classical Indian dance from which was reinvented, modified and rechristened as

Bharatanatyam ''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Hinduism and Jainism.< ...

through the efforts of E Krishna Iyer in 1932. However, Muthukannammal has chosen to call her art form Sadir, making her the only Sadir exponent today.

Early life and education

Muthukannammal was born in 1937 in

Viralimalai Viralimalai is a developing town and Suburb of city of Tiruchirappalli, located in Pudukkottai District, 28 km from Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, India. The famous Lord Shanmuganathar temple is situated on the top of the granite hill at ...

, 28 km from

Trichy Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of T ...

into a hereditary Isai

Vellalar Vellalar is a group of Caste system in India, castes in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and northeastern parts of Sri Lanka. The Vellalar are members of several endogamous castes such as the numerically strong Arunattu Vellalar, Chozhi ...

family of dancers and musicians. She is the daughter of Ramachandra Nattuvanaar (1890-1988) who himself was a much respected dancer, a competent dance teacher and the most popular and respected nattuvanar in Viralimalai. Since her family is a dancers' family, she had started dancing from the time she learned to walk. At the age of seven, she had ''pottukkattutal'' performed at

and she had her ''arangetram'' (début on-stage performance). Later she was trained extensively in dancing by her father and grandmother. Her family was closely associated with temple dance practices in the Viralimalai Murugan temple and other temples, and also with the

Pudukkottai Pudukkottai Municipal Corporation is the administrative headquarters of Pudukkottai district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is one of the oldest Heritage city located on the banks of the Vellar River. It has been ruled, at different t ...

Palace. Her family was under the patronage of Pudukkottai kings. King Rajagopala Tondaiman, the ninth and last ruler of the princely state of

, had gifted agricultural lands to her family for their temple services. However, due to the strong ant-Devadasi movement then raging in

, especially in Viralimalai, there was a steep decline in interest among the general public and temple administrators in the ritualistic traditional performances of dance and music by Muthukannammal and members of her family. This resulted in the dwindling of a regular income and Muthukannammal and her family had go through severe hardships. Perhaps this forced her to embark on a new life with performances at weddings and other social functions.

Recognition: Padma Shri

*In the year 2022, Govt of India conferred the

award, the third highest award in the Padma series of awards, on R Muthukannammal for her distinguished service in the field of art. The award is in recognition of her service as a "Veteran 7th generation Sadir dancer from

, a custodian of the early tradition of

Other recognitions

*"DakshinaChitra Virudhu", an annual award instituted by The Madras Craft Foundation and The Friends of DakshinaChitra to honour folk performing artists (2018) *G Chandrasekharan, former principal of

Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai The Government College of Fine Arts (initially known as the Madras School of Art) in Chennai is the oldest art institution in India. The institution was established in 1850 by surgeon Alexander Hunter as a private art school. In 1852, after be ...

, made a sculpture of Muthukannamal in clay at his art school for the disabled in

Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (), also known as Nellai and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirunelveli District. It is the fourth-largest munici ...

in 2017. *In the year 2019,

Films Division of India The Films Division of India (FDI), commonly referred as Films Division, was established in 1948 following the independence of India. It was the first state film production and distribution unit, under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ...

released the biopic entitled "Devaradiyar in Sadhir: The Life and Art of Muthukannammal. Directed by S.Shanmuganathan"

References

Additional reading

*Chapter 4 titled "Historical Traces and Unfinished Subjectivity: Remembering Devadasi Dance at Viralimalai" in the book ''Unfinished Gestures: Devadasis, Memory, and Modernity in South India'' by Davesh Soneji published by The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, in 2012 (pages 161-188). * * *

External links