Nataraja Ramakrishna Biography 
Nataraja Ramakrishna was the chairman of Andhra Pradesh Sangeeta Nataka Academy. He has been a dance teacher for several years. He was also a scholar and musicologist and promoted dance forms worldwide. For his contributions to Indian classical art forms, he was bestowed with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship on 21 January 2011. He has also received Padma Shri in the year 1992. He revived Andhra Natyam, a devotional temple dance form performed in Andhra Pradesh and Perini Shivatandavam. He has also revived many other folk dances from extinction.
Ramakrishna was born in Bali, Indonesia to Indian migrant family on March 21, 1923. His parents - Ramamohan Rao and Damayanti Devi belonged to Nalgonda and East Godaveri respectively. When he lost his mother at the age of 3, family returned back to India. He was attracted to Indian classical dances from an early age. But his father was against it. So he left the place and property and reached Chennai. His childhood days were spent at Ramakrishna Math at Madras and Mahatma Gandhi's ashram. His elder brother Shyama Sundar was his mentor. He started formal learning of dance forms from Sukhdev Kartak of Nagpur.
His dance performance before the royal assembly of Nagpur turned out to be the turning point of his career. At the age of 18, he was given the title of ‘Nataraja' in Nagpur by Maharaja. He revived 400 year old Andhra Natyam and 700 year old Perini Shivatandavam. He also established Nritya Niketan - a dance school at Hyderabad. He received Raja-Lakshmi Award in 1991, Padma Shri in 1992, Kala Prapoorna from Andhra University and ‘Bharata Kala Prapoorna,' from Andhra Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi. He has also received NTR State Award by Andhra Pradesh State government. He propagated Chindu Yakshaganam, an ancient art form of Telangana and has also revived folk arts like Tappetagullu, Veera Natyam and Garagalu of Godaveri districts and Devadasi dance of temple tradition.
Published: N/A
Updated: January 08, 2014
