Sonal Mansingh Biography 
Sonal Mansingh is a prominent dancer and artist associated with Odissi dance form. She is also trained in Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, and Chhau. She was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 1992. Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1987, Kalidas Samman of Madhya Pradesh government in 2006 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2003 are the other major honours received by her. She is only the second woman dancer in India after Balasaraswati to receive the Padma Vibhushan, India's the second highest civilian award. She has been honoured with honorary doctorates by G.B. Pant University and Sambalpur University. Sonal has dedicated more than 50 years to the world of art and dance.
She was born in Mumbai in 1944. Her mother Poornima Arvind Pakvasa, also known as the Didi of Dangs, was an Indian social worker from Gujarat. She was a recipient of Padma Bhushan in 2004, and passed away most recently on April 25, 2016 at the age of 102. Mangal Das Pakvasa, the great freedom fighter was her paternal grandfather. Her father’s name is Arvind Pakvasa. She was married to Lalit Mansingh, an Indian diplomat who served as the Foreign Secretary of India. But the couple divorced later. Her father-in-law Mayadhar Mansingh was a prominent Odia writer.
Sonal Mansingh started formal training in traditional dance forms at the age of 4. She received initial training in Manipuri dance. At age seven she started learning Bharatnatyam. She trained in Pandanallur School of this art form. She completed graduation in German Literature from Elphinstone College, Mumbai. Though she was opposed by her family, she moved to Bangalore, to learn Bharatanatyam from Prof. U. S. Krishna Rao and Chandrabhaga Devi. In 1965 she started learning Odissi from Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra.
Sonal started her dancing career in 1962. Since then she has spent more than 5 decades in this field. In 2002, Prakash Jha made a documentary film on her title Sonal, to mark her completion of 40 years in this field. The documentary won National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film for the year.
Published: N/A
Updated: July 09, 2016
