M. K. Saroja Biography 
M. K. Saroja is a veteran dancer and expertise in Bharatnatyam. Also known as a guru in this classical dance form, she has completed over 7 decades in this field. She is a winner of numerous awards and recognition including Padma Shri and Kalaimamani Award, for her outstanding contributions to Indian art forms. She was initiated to this art form by Kattumannarkoil Muthukumaran Pillai, the first dance teacher at Rukmini Devi Arundale's Kalakshetra.
Her full name is Madras Kadirvellu Saroja born on 7th April 1931, in Chennai. She has no dance background. Later Vidwan Kattumannarkoil Muthukumaran Pillai of Chidambaram came and stayed in her Georgetown residence to teach two sisters – Selvamani and Saroja, when she was 5 years old. She was mentored by none other than legendary Ram Gopal and she became an accomplished disciple of her guru by the age of 10. When her guru moved to Bangalore, she too joined him at Bangalore Studio at the age of 10.
She made her arangettam in 1940 at the age of 10. Very soon she became a leading dancer and though was offered a movie contract by Gemini Studios, she turned it down. In 1949, she got married to Mohan Khokar, a renowned art historian and dance scholar, moved to Baroda. He was her co-student at Kalakshetra. She learnt Kathak while at Baroda. When Mohan Khokar was posted as the Special Officer for dance at the Sangeet Natak Akademi in Delhi, Saroja accompanied her husband.
While in Delhi she resumed her career as a teacher and also has been a performer. She has also performed at Rashtrapati Bhavan. From 1970 onwards, she started visiting the Centre Mandapa in Paris, where she taught students till 2000. Indrani Rehman, Yamini Krishnamurthy, Romana Agnel, Nargis Katpitia, Pratibha Pandit, Sudha Patel and Laxmi Valrani are among her disciples.
Published: N/A
Updated: January 19, 2016
