Saroja Vaidyanathan Biography 
Saroja Vaidyanathan is an exponent of Bharatnatyam, a traditional art form of Tamil Nadu. She is also known as a guru and wonderful choreographer. She has been honoured with Padma Shri in 2002 and the Padma Bhushan in 2013 by the Government of India. Sahitya Kala Parishad Samman of the Government of Delhi, 'Bharata Kalai Sudar' in 2006, the Kalaimamani title by the Tamil Nadu Eyal Isai Nataka Manram and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award are the other major honours received by her.
She has also authored many books including The Classical Dances of India, Bharatanatyam – An In-Depth Study, Carnataka Sangeetham, and The Science of Bharatanatyam. Her books were based on Bharatnatyam and Carnatic music. Saroja was born in Bellary, Karnataka in 1937 in a literal family. Both her parents were writers. Her mother, Kanakam Dharmarajan was a writer of detective fiction in Tamil. Saroja was married to an IAS officer, Vaidyanathan. The couple has one son and their daughter in law Rama Vaidyanathan is a well-known Bharatanatyam artiste.
She received her initial training in Bharatanatyam at the Saraswati Gana Nilayam in Chennai. Later she studied Bharatnatyam under Kattumannar Muthukumaran Pillai of Thanjavur. She studied Carnatic music under Professor P. Sambamoorthy at Madras University. She also holds a D. Litt in dance from the Indira Kala Sangeet Viswavidyalaya, Khairagarh. She gave up her career soon after marriage as she received bad response from public. Instead she took teaching as her career. When her husband was transferred to Delhi in 1972, she also reached capital city where she started an institution, Ganesh Natyalaya in 1974. In this institution, apart from Bharatnatyam, disciples are also taught Tamil, Hindi and Carnatic vocal music to give them a holistic understanding of Bharatanatyam.
Published: N/A
Updated: January 23, 2014
