Rani Karnaa was an Indian classical dancer, known for her proficiency in the Indian dance form of

Kathak ''Kathak'' is one of the eight major forms of Classical Indian dance, Indian classical dance. Its origin is attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern India known as ''Kathakar'' ("storyteller"), who communicated stories from the ...

, and regarded by many as one of the greatest exponents of the art form. She was honoured by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

, in 2014, by bestowing on her 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 ...

, the fourth highest civilian award, for her services to the field of dance. Rani Karnaa Portrait

Biography

Rani Karnaa was born in 1939, in a sindhi family of amirs in

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 ...

, in the present day Pakistan and erstwhile

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. Her father, Assandas Karnaa belonged originally to the Karnamalani family of

Larkana Larkana (; ) is a city located in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is the 15th largest city of Pakistan by population. It is home to the Indus Valley civilization site Mohenjo-daro. The historic Indus River flows in east and south of the ci ...

region. The family name of Karnamalani, over a period of time, got abbreviated to Karanani and eventually to Karnaa. In 1942, her family moved to Delhi when the young Rani was three years old. She had her early schooling in Delhi and graduated in

Botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

from the Hindu College, Delhi. She also did Honours degree in Botany later but forsook academics to concentrate on her dance career. Rani Karnaa's family moved from Sindh to Delhi when she was three and settled at Connaught Place. She soon grew a fancy for dance seeing a neighbor dancing, insisted on learning the art and started learning dance from the age of four, learning

Odissi ''Odissi'' (''ଓଡ଼ିଶୀ'') also referred to as ''Orissi'' in old literature, oldest surviving classical dance of India, is a major ancient Indian classical dance that originated in the Hindu temple, temples of Odisha – an eastern ...

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.< ...

and Manipuri. Her early teachers were ''Nrityacharya'' Narayan Prasad and Sundar Prasad. She continued her studies to master the Jaipur gharana style under Guru Hiralal and the Lucknow gharana ethos from Pandit Birju Maharaj. Rani Karnaa shifted her residence to

Bhubaneshwar Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra Khetra'' and ''Ekamra Khetra'' ( ...

when she got married into an Odia family in 1963 and this gave her an opportunity to meet Kumkum Mohanty, the famous Odissi dancer. Through her, Rani Karnaa got in touch with the renowned guru,

Kelucharan Mahapatra Kelucharan Mohapatra (8 January 1926 – 7 April 2004) was a legendary Indian classical dancer, guru, and exponent of Odissi dance, who is credited with the revival and popularizing of this classical dance form in the 20th century. He is t ...

and learnt

from the master from 1966 to 1985. She has also trained under various other famous gurus such as Amubi Singh, Narendra Kumar and

Lalita Shastri Lalita Shastri (born Lalmani Devi; 11 January 1910 – 13 April 1993) was the wife of Prime Minister of India, Lal Bahadur Shastri. Devi was from Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh. She married Shastri on 16 May 1928. After marriage, the couple liv ...

, a disciple of the renowned

Rukmini Devi Arundale Rukmini Devi Arundale (née Sastri; 29 February 1904 – 24 February 1986)Sharma, Shoba and Gangadean, Ashok (January 31, 2004 Naatya.org. Retrieved on 10 December 2018. was an Indian theosophist, dancer and choreographer of the Indian cl ...

. Rani Karnaa performed extensively across India and outside, performing at almost all the major classical dance festivals in India. Her performances are said to have received acclaim in places like UK, Russia and many other European countries. Rani Karnaa lived in Kolkata, since shifting from

when her husband, Nayak, was transferred to Kolkata in 1978, attending to her duties as the director of ''Samskritiki Shreyaskar'' and was active until recently, her last public performance was in 2013, at the age of 74. She died on 7 May 2018, aged 79.

Legacy

Apart from contributing to the propagation of Kathak through her performances, Rani Karnaa is credited with integrating the traditions of

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

and

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

gharanas In Hindustani music (North Indian classical music), a ''gharānā'' is a system of social organisation in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and more importantly by adherence to a particular musi ...

. Many critics have acknowledged her contributions in bringing different cultural traditions into Kathak, by integrating their literature, music and dance. She is said to have combined artistry with creative expression. She has done research on the aesthetics of Kathak with Professor S. K. Saxena of

Delhi University The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

and the body of that research work is well recognized. She established a dance academy, ''Samskritiki Shreyaskar'', 1995, and also guides the ''Sangeet and Nritya Sikshan Bharati'', a division of

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is an Indian educational trust. It was founded on 7 November 1938 by K.M Munshi, with the support of Mahatma Gandhi. The trust programmes through its 119 centres in India, 7 centres abroad and 367 constituent institut ...

, Kolkata. She is also the founder and the first director of Calcutta School of Music and worked there from 1978 till 1993. She established the dance division of Aurobindo Bhavan, Kolkata, by name, ''Ahana'' and headed the department from 1980 to 1987.

Samskritiki Shreyaskar

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Samskritiki Shreyaskar is a dance academy founded in 1995, by Rani Karnaa, with the aim to propagate the dance form of Kathak and to develop the performing arts in general. The academy stands along

Jodhpur Park Jodhpur Park is a neighbourhood of South Kolkata, in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India. Geography It has Dhakuria to the north and the east, the Gariahat Road to the east, Jadavpur to the south and Lake Gardens to the west. In a recent ...

, Kolkata and offers various courses in various dance forms. The academy and its students have participated in various cultural festivals across India such as: * Konarak Festival - 1994 *

Kathak Festival, New Delhi - 1995 * Rabindra Janmotsav, Calcutta - 1996, 1998 and 1999 * Vasantotsav, New Delhi - 2000 * Natyanjali Festival, Chidambaram - 2000 *

Puri Puri, also known as Jagannath Puri, () is a coastal city and a Nagar Palika, municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state ca ...

Beach Festival - 2000 * Kathak Mahotsav, Calcutta - 2000 *

Thyagaraja Sadguru Tyagaraja Swami ( Telugu: సద్గురు త్యాగరాజ స్వామి; 4 May 1767 – 6 January 1847), also known as Tyagayya, and in full as Kakarla Tyagabrahmam ( Telugu: కాకర్ల త్యాగబ ...

Festival, Tirupati - 2000 * Virasat Festival, Mangalore - 2000. The academy, apart from the courses it offers, conducts workshops and live demonstrations. It has associations with

Rabindra Bharati University Rabindra Bharati University is a public research university in Kolkata, India. It was founded on 8 May 1962, under the Rabindra Bharati Act of the Government of West Bengal in 1961, to mark the birth centenary of the poet Rabindranath Tagore. I ...

and Nehru Children's Museum, New Delhi, for conducting regular workshops. It also has a subsidiary centre in Odisha, started in 2005.

Awards and recognitions

Rani Karnaa was honoured by the

by awarding her the

, in 2014, in recognition of her efforts to the cause of

dance. She has also received many other awards and honours such as: * Vice-President's Gold Medal -

Shankar's Weekly ''Shankar's Weekly'' was an Indian satirical magazine published between 1948 and 1975. It was founded and run by Keshav Shankar Pillai, a pioneering political cartoonist. The magazine has been compared to the UK's '' Punch''. The weekly print ...

- 1954 * Order of the Queen of

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

- 1964 * ''Sangeet Varidhi'' - Bharatiya Kala Kendra, New Delhi - 1977 * ''Vijay Ratna'' - Indian International Friendship Society, New Delhi - 1990 * Senior Fellow - Department of Culture, Ministry of Human Resources Development - Government of India *

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

- 1996 * Honorary Award - Akhil Bhartiya Sindhi Boli and Sahitya Sabha - 1998

References

External links