Drsuruchipuri at 04:19, 12 January 2026

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{{Short description|Bharatanatyam dancer (1906–2002)}}
{{Refimprove|date=January 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name = K. Venkatalakshamma
| image = K. Venkatalakshamma.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1906|05|29}}
| birth_place = [[Kadur]], [[Mysore Kingdom]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| height =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2002|07|01|1906|05|29}}
| death_place = [[Kadur]], [[Chikmagalur]], [[Karnataka]], India
| yearsactive = 1918-2000
| birth_name = K.Venkatalakshmma
| othername =
| website =
| awards = [[Padma Bhushan]] – 1992<br />[[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] – 1964

}}
'''K. Venkatalakshamma''' (29 May 1906 – 1 July 2002) was a renowned [[Bharatanatyam]] dancer.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nidamboor |first=Rajgopal |date=2020-03-04 |title=The Grand Dame Of Dance {{!}} Madras Courier |url=https://madrascourier.com/biography/the-grand-dame-of-dance/ |access-date=2025-02-13 |language=en-US}}</ref> A doyenne of the Mysore Style of Bharatanatyam, she was the last representative of the Mysore court tradition. She was awarded the [[Padma Bhushan]], India's third highest civilian honour, in 1992.<ref>[http://india.gov.in/myindia/padmabhushan_awards_list1.php?start=390 India.gov list of Padma Bhushan awardees]</ref>

== Biography ==

===Early life===

Venkatalakshamma was born on 29 May 1906 in a [[Lambani]] family in Tangali Thanda (Now Venkata Lakshamma Nagara), [[Kadur]]. At the age of eight her grandparents took her to the royal court of Mysore to learn Bharatanatyam under the tutelage of the well-known dancer, 'Natya Saraswati' Jatti Thayamma.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Venkatalakshamma learnt the art of dance in the gurukula system and made her ‘Ranga Pravesha’ when she was twelve. She learnt Sanskrit from Asthana Vidwans Devottama Jois, Shanta Shastry and Giri Bhatta, the essential components of Carnatic music from Dr B.Devendrappa and C.Rama Rao<ref>{{cite web|last1=Nidamboor|first1=Rajgopal|title=A Zealous Servant Of Her Art|url=http://wordoscope.com/wphome/a-zealous-servant-of-her-art|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331123026/http://wordoscope.com/wphome/a-zealous-servant-of-her-art|url-status=dead|archive-date=31 March 2022|website=Wordoscope}}</ref> and performed with her guru Thayamma for nearly 30 years.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Venkatalakshamma would go to her Guru Thayamma's house in the early morning hours and engage in a series of rigorous exercises, some of which included lifting coins and needles with the eyelids to train the eye muscles for the demands of intricate abhinaya.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} When it came to performance, aharya did not include heavy make-up or artificial jewellery, and rangapravesha was not a social event as it is now.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

===Career===

Venkatalakshamma was appointed "Asthana Vidushi," royal court dancer, by the great King [[Krishnarajendra Wodeyar|Krishnarajendra Wodeyar IV]] in 1939 and soon she became a household name in the world of Bharatanatyam.<ref>{{cite news|title=Dancer Venkatalakshamma dead|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/Dancer-Venkatalakshamma-dead/articleshow/14899698.cms|agency=TNN|work=Times of India|date=3 July 2002}}</ref> She is credited with taking the Mysore style of Bharatanatyam to its zenith. She served as Asthana Vidushi for an incredible 40 years in the courts of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV and [[Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar]], the last of the Mysore rulers.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

After 40 years of service in the palace, Venkatalakshamma, the famous abhinaya exponent, opened her own institution, Bharatiya Nritya Niketana.

When the Faculty of Dance was founded at the [[University of Mysore]] in 1965 Venkatalakshamma became its first Reader and retired after serving for nine years in 1974. After her retirement her granddaughter Shakuntalamma served as the Reader. Venkatalakshamma trained a host of dancers from both India and abroad, served as dance teacher and Principal at various institutes including the Nupura School of Bharatanatyam in Bangalore.

=== The Mysore Style ===

The Mysore style of Bharatanatyam started to assume its recognisable form in the nineteenth century under Krishnaraja Wodeyar III, but had begun to flourish during the rule of [[Chamaraja Wodeyar IX]] who invited Chinnaiah, one of the brothers of the famous Tanjore Quartet to the Mysore court. Chinnaiah's influence was soon imbibed by the already present dance forms and further shaped a style of Bharatanatyam with an unmistakable flavour of its own.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

According to Venkatalakshamma's student Lalitha Srinivasan, rhythmic extravaganza was not entertained at the Mysore court. Instead, the lyrical beauty of the compositions, the melodious music with apt facial expressions and hand gestures was given precedence to, and a rich repertoire of abhinaya numbers developed. This sets the Mysore style apart from the other types of Bharatanatyam. Nritta is a skill one acquires through practice and technique. Abhinaya is the result of the entirety of a dancer's personal views and their innate ability to interpret. It is highly individualistic. Therefore, one can guide a person in abhinaya, but one can never fully teach it.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tomas|first1=Lora|title=Beyond the Body|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/beyond-the-body/article5923314.ece|work=The Hindu|date=18 April 2014}}</ref>

Venkatalakshamma is the grandaunt of the Kannada writer and politician [[B.T. Lalitha Naik]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=ನಾಯಕ್ [Naik]|first1=ಬಿ.ಟಿ. ಲಲಿತಾ [B.T. Lalitha]|title=ಬಂಜಾರ ಹೆಜ್ಜೆಗುರುತುಗಳು [Banjara Hejjegurutugalu]|date=2009 |publisher=ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ರಾಜ್ಯ ಪತ್ರಾಗಾರ ಇಲಾಖೆ [Karnataka Rajya Patragara Ilakhe]|location=Bangalore|isbn=978-81-908438-1-2|page=142}}</ref>

==Awards and honours==

* [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] (its first awardee from Karnataka in 1964)
* Sangeet Nritya Academy Award (1976)
* D.Litt. from [[Mysore University]] (1977)
* [[Kannada Rajyotsava|Kannada Rajyotsava Award]] (1988)
* Sangeeta Kalaratna (1989) from [[Bangalore Gayana Samaja]]
* [[Padma Bhushan]] (1992)
* first [[Shantala Natya Sri Award]] (the highest award for a dancer in Karnataka: 1995)<ref name="Karnataka">{{cite web |title=Profile of recipients of 'Shantala Natya Sri Awards' |url=https://www.karnataka.gov.in/page/Awards/State+Awards/Shantala+Natya+Awards/en |website=www.karnataka.gov.in |publisher=Karnataka Government}}</ref>
* Nadoja Award from [[Hampi University|University of Hampi]] (2001)<ref>{{cite web|last1=Keshava|first1=Dasappa|title=My mentor Dr. K Venkatalakshamma|url=https://narthaki.com/info/profiles/profl129.html|website=Narthaki.com|publisher=Narthaki Online|access-date=7 June 2015}}</ref>

==References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Lynne Hanna, Judith (1988) ''Dance, Sex, and Gender: Signs of Identity, Dominance, Defiance, and Desire'', Chicago: University of Chicago Press, {{ISBN|9780226315515}}
*Waterhouse, David Ed. (1998) ''Dance of India: Issue 10 of South Asian studies papers'', Toronto: University of Toronto, Centre for South Asian Studies, {{ISBN|9781895214154}}
*Sampath, Vikram (2008) ''Splendours of Royal Mysore: The Untold Story of the Wodeyars'', Delhi: Rupa and Co, {{ISBN|978-81-291-1360-3}}
:In [[Kannada]]:
*Srinivasan, Lalitha (1995) ''Padmabhushana Dr.K.Venkatalakshamma'', Bangalore: Karnataka Sangeeta Nritya Academy.

{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1990–99}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venkatalakshamma, Kadur}}
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts]]
[[Category:Bharatanatyam dancers]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]
[[Category:Indian female classical dancers]]
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Chikmagalur district]]
[[Category:Dancers from Karnataka]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Mysore]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian dancers]]
[[Category:Women artists from Karnataka]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women artists]]

K. Venkatalakshamma - Revision history

Drsuruchipuri at 04:19, 12 January 2026