Mumbai: Sri Rajarajeswari Bharatha Natya Kala Mandir, a renowned Bharatanatyam institution founded in Mumbai in 1945, recently celebrated its 80th anniversary. The inaugural function took place on October 16 at the Sri Shanmukhananda Auditorium to commemorate the institution’s legacy in the classical art form.
Founded in 1945 by Guru Govindraj Pillai and his wife Karunambal, this institution is considered a cornerstone for other Bharatanatyam schools in Mumbai and represents a lineage of seven generations of teaching.
Guru K. Kalyanasundaram Pillai, the 93-year-old director of the institution, shared, “What began as the Rajarajeswari Dance Academy at the Chetna Arts Centre in Kala Ghoda eventually took its present shape in erstwhile Bombay’s Matunga when the founders purchased a flat there for Rs 18,000 with the help of their pupils in 1950.” Today, this institution is the oldest Bharatanatyam school in the city and the only one in India managed by natya acharyas who teach the Thanjavur style of Bharatanatyam, a tradition traced back to ancestors who performed in the royal courts of South India.
The school has nurtured many exceptional dancers, including Damyanti Joshi, a renowned Kathak dancer who chose to learn Bharatanatyam, and Sitara Devi, who was honoured as ‘Nritya Samragini’ or Empress of Dance by Rabindranath Tagore. Notable Bollywood stars, including Waheeda Rehman, Kamini Kaushal, and Gopi Krishna, trained here, while actresses like Hema Malini frequented the institution for practice. Major contemporary exponents of this art form, such as Vani Ganapathy, Sudha Chandrashekar, and Viji Prakash, along with the talented trio of Lalitha, Padmini, and Ragini (known as the Travancore sisters), are also alumni of this esteemed institute. Many of its former students now reside abroad and teach Bharatanatyam there.
The fifth-generation maestro, Bharata Vidwan Thanjavur Guru Kuppiah Pillai, has played a significant role in advancing Sri Rajarajeswari Bharatha Natya Kala Mandir, earning recognition as an institution of excellence. His contributions, including the “Kamala Chakram,” a comprehensive collection of 108 talas, demonstrate his dedication to preserving and promoting the Thanjavur style of dance.
Guru Kalyanasundaram has received numerous accolades, including the Kalaimamani Award in 1994, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for the years 1999–2000, and the Padma Shri in 2023. His list of honours also includes the Natya Kalanidhi, Natya Selvam, Natya Ratna, and Bharata Rishi awards. Additionally, he was awarded the Akademi Ratna Fellowship for 2018 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi.
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