Our Roots

KATTUMANNARKOIL MUTHUKUMARASAMY PILLAI

One of the greatest teacher of his times who took the art form further and made something of a legendary name for himself. His mother’s side was a family of nattuvanār tradition. He started his learning under Pandanainallūr Nataraja nattuvanār and then came under the tutelage of Pandanainallūr Arunachala nattuvanār. He learnt abhinayā from certain devadāsis including Ammani Amma of Shiyali, Neelambal of Madras and the great Thiruvarur Gnanam, whom he admired and often danced with on special occasions.

He has an unending list of students, among them are M.K. Selvamani, M.K. Saroja, Kumari Kamala (later famous actress who was earlier called Baby Kamala), Kalakshetra Rukmini Devi, Mrinalini Sarabai, Ramgopal, Nalanajan, Canada Janak Kendri, Palakkadu Saroja, T.K. Narayanan, T.V. Sowndararajan, Sujaya Dikshit, K. Lalitha (founder of Chennai Sri Saraswathy Gana Nilayam).

SMT. K. LALITHA, Founder

K. Lalitha was born and brought up in Chennai. Though she had passion for dance, her parents were not supportive, as dance during that period, could be misunderstood as desi āttam. With the support of her brother, she learnt Bharatanātyam from Kattumannar Koil Muthukumaraswamy Pillai, at the age of 13. When he was in chennai, K. Lalitha’s brother would invite him home to teach her. She learnt till Varnam, but after that, he moved to Kancheepuram, so she could not continue her classes with him. Due to her in-born talent and creativity, she developed her dance by herself. During those times, for a lady, from a Brahmin community, to study in school, to act in dramas, to sing and dance was very challenging as, Bharata Natyam easily could have got misunderstood as a devadasi tradition.

She learnt music from ‘Plate’ Venkatarama Iyer and T. Sankara Iyer. She also attended Prof. P. Sambamoorthy’s Summer School of Music along with famous artists such as D.K. Pattammal and Shanta Kumari. She also learnt Violin, Veena, Flute and Mridangam. She was known as Flute Lalitha as she played for several plays by Shining Star Society and also acted in some of them. She got the opportunity of playing flute for the film Bhakta Eknath. This happened to be the turning point in her life. The hero of the film, Sri P.S. Krishnaswami Iyengar alias Kannan Iyengar understood her interest and love for the art and helped her in starting up the institution.

Despite many difficulties and opposition, on 14 April 1939, Smt. K. Lalitha and Kannan Iyengar established the dance school “Sri Saraswathy Gana Nilayam”. She was the first Brahmin lady to have learned Bharatanātyam. She was a very strong and a bold lady. She became the guru, taught Bharatanātyam and Veena to her disciples. Kannan Iyengar was the Co-founder and secretary of Sri Saraswathy Gana Nilayam. He was a singer with a majestic barytone voice, an actor of no small repute and an able organiser. He was a government employee but his first love was the Nilayam.

They started this institution at Triplicane, to teach Bharatanātyam and music to the children in that area which consist of middle class families predominantly. To start with, the Nilayam had just 4 students, of which Ranganayaki was the first student, the first daughter of Kannan Iyengar. His second daughter was Shakuntala, last daughter was Vedavalli and her niece Uma.

K Lalitha was an ideal teacher, strict disciplinarian and devoted to promote classical fine arts among children. She understood the capability of the students and encouraged them to improve their skills. She would not be easily approached by students or parents as she was very strict, though she was kind at heart. She could be approached only through the performance of the student.

Early Achievements

She was a very good choreographer, lyricist, music composer and brought out her skills through various compositions such as Pushpanjali, Varnam, Padam, Thillanā and dance dramas. The first dance drama which completely brought out her skill was Lalitha Prabhāvam. She composed apt ragas for the Entire shlokas of “LALITHĀ SAHASRANĀMAM” and choreographed “Lalitha Prabhāvam”, a dance drama based on it. This was composed in such a way that even a layman could understand the lyrics and story.

In 1950s her masterpieces that were famous were Jayadeva’s “ASHTAPADI” on Krishna and Radha, Saint Thyāgarāja’s “NOWKACHARITHAM” on Lord Krishna’s childhood pranks, “ĀNDĀL KALYĀNAM”, on marriage of Goddess Āndāl and Lord Vishnu, “KURAVANJI” about marriage of Lord Krishna with the Kurathi Queen and Mysore Sadasiva Rao’s Telugu Krithi “VĀCHAMAKŌCHARAM” describing the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. She has composed many Pushpanjalis, Stuthīs, Varnams and Thillanas.

She was the pioneer in reviving and propagating our traditional folk art forms like KUMMI, KOLĀTTAM & PINNAL KOLĀTTAM. Back in those days, they used to observe ‘nombu’ for Lord Krishna. The girl students used to be the gopikas and would dance all the way from SGN to Parthasarathy Swamy temple. This later became an integral part of the performances. People would easily associate such dance to Sri Saraswathy Gana Nilayam. The institution organised the KOLATAM JAVANTARAI UTSAVAM every year on a big scale with the dancers performing Kummi, Kolāttam, Isai Kōlam and Pinnal Kolāttam on the main roads in Triplicane, where the Nilayam is located. She was the only artist who trained the students in kummi, kolāttam, pinnal kolāttam, snake dance, Harvest dance and other folk dance forms, then. Books on Kummi and Kolāttam were also published. The audience burst into thunderous applause whenever these were performed.

Her students performed all over India. Some dancers got more opportunities due to their fame in the Cine field, but K. Subramaniam(father of Padma Subramaniam), was a patron of art, organised various performances around the city for SGN and took them to Delhi to perform in the Republic day celebrations for 6 consecutive years. In 1955, her students performed dance and Kumari Ranganayaki performed Hari Kathā programs in Dr. Radhakrishnan’s (Vice President) house. Her students also performed in All India Radio and Television.

She organised the Thyāgarāja festival every year between 50s and 60s. Most famous Vidwans of yesteryears like Madurai Mani Iyer, Ariyakudi Ramanujam, Musiri Subramaniyam, Maharajapuram Vishwanatha Iyer, G.N. Balasubramaniyam, Dandapani Desigar, Alathur brothers, M.L. Vasanthakumari, Veena Balachandar, Chitti Babu, Parur Sundaram Iyer family, V.V. Sadagopan, S.V. Parthasarathy, Chowdiah, Sethuramaiah, R.K. Venkatrama Sastry, M.K. Thiagaraja Bhagavadhar, S.V.S. Narayanan, Madurai Venkateesan were a part of this festival.

Smt. K. Lalitha had conducted over 135 arangetrams for students, the first one being the arangetram of Smt. Ranganayaki, in the year 1946. She conferred the students with the title “NATYA TILAKAM” on the day of their arangetram.

AWARDS

In 1953, Smt. K. Lalitha received the titles “SANGEETHA VIDWATH SIRONMANI” and “NĀTYA KALA PRAKĀSHINI” from Sri Chidambara Deekshithar. She also received the title “ABHINAVA SARASWATHI” from Sri Raghuthmachar and “KALAIGNYĀNI” from Smt. Bhavadarini at Devi Karumari Amman Shakthi Peetam.

Smt. Ranganayaki , First Student .... 80+yrs of journey

The Legend

Born on 19 September 1935 at Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu, Smt. Ranganayaki received her training in Bharatanātyam under Smt K. Lalitha, at Sri Saraswathy Gana Nilayam. She was the eldest daughter of Kannan Iyengar and Jayamma, the first student of the institution. She started learning Bharatanātyam at the age of five and staged her Arangetram when she was 11 years old, in 1946. Her teacher was an ardent fan of Rukmini Devi and was very specific that she must preside over her arangetram. Rukmini amma graced the occasion and when Rukmini amma made her sit on her lap, it was one of the best moments of her life.

After her arangetram, she has given innumerable performances, both solo and group in all prestigious sabhas. She has played the lead roles in all the group performances such as Radha in Ashtapadi, Queen in

Kuravanjianji, as Śiva in many thematic presentation.

Performances

She was proficient in Carnatic vocal, received training in music under Professor P. Sambamoorthy at the Government College of Music, Chennai. She stood first (First Class) in the Lower Grade Examination in Music at the Government Technical Examinations conducted by the Government of Madras, in November 1943, the very first year the examination was conducted. She stood first (First Class) in the Higher Grade Examination in November 1944.

She is well qualified in Hari Kathā Kālatchebam and has given more than 100 performances all over India. She had the privilege of performing in the presence of various dignitaries like Late Pandit Sri Jawaharlal Nehru in 1953. She had performed in front of Ex- Vice President Dr. Sir. S. Radhakrishnan, in the year 1955 at Delhi. She has also performed in front of many other dignitaries like Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer, Judge A.S.P. Iyer, C. Rajagopalachari, Mr. T.L. Venkatrama Iyer and Moodharignyar Sri Rajaji. Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer sat next to her feet and relished her performance. He called her father and gave a certificate in appreciation of her performance.

She received the titles “HARI KATHA SIRONMANI” from Sengalipuram Anantharama Dikshadar and “KALA RATHNAM” from Ambattur Mounaswami, “NATTUVANGA NAYAGI” from Kamala Ramanathan.[1] Some of the topics on which she performed Hari Kathā are Rukmāngadha charithram on Ekādasi, Kuchèlobhāgyadham on Kuchèlan’s charithram, Sai Baba on Sai Baba’s life history, Vātsala Kalyanam, Rukmini Kalyanam, Sita Kalyanam, Āndal Kalyanam and Kabirdas on his life history.

From Teacher to Guru

Director SINCE 1988

Smt. Ranganayaki debut nattuvāngam on stage was for her student Vidya’s arangetram which was the 135th arangetram of the nilayam. After this, she continued doing Nattuvāngam for all the arangetrams and performances, under the supervision for her teacher. Her nattuvāngam acted as a strong base for all the performances. She became a master in nattuvāngam. Her distinct style of reciting the jatis with voice modulation in the sollu kattu, her speed and clarity in rendering were her significance. Late. Sri. K.V. Jagannathan, former editor of “Kalaimagal” had referred to Smt. Ranganayaki as “ARANGANAYAKI” which denotes lady who ruled over a gathering of wise people. Though she would not dance, her presence on stage as a nattuvanār and a choreographer, would create such an impact to the viewers. She can be addressed as “Ashtavadhani”, a person who excels in several art forms.

In 1988, she took up the directorship, during the golden jubilee of the institution. Smt. K. Lalitha was taking few classes till 1990 and after the demise of Smt K. Lalitha in 1992, she has been carrying forward the legacy. Even after taking up the directorship, she continued to take regular classes, arangetram and program classes for the students.

Although “Sister”, as the students affectionately call her, was a strict disciplinarian, her ever smiling and cheerful approach in teaching always makes the students comfortable in learning the art from her. She was easily approachable by the students and parents. Besides, she would be addressed as “Annapoorani” as she always provides food to the students who come to class from school or college or office. There has never been a program practice without food or snacks provided by her, by the end of it. Even on the day of the program, she makes sure the performers are provided with food, as they come early to get dressed.

Many dance dramas were choreographed by Smt. K. Lalitha but Smt. Ranganayaki revived them and enhanced them through her creativity, imagination and observation. For any art to survive, change is inevitable as without innovative changes, any art is bound to stagnate. She also produced new dance dramas from the Puranas. She created innumerable Jatis that had her unique style which attracted many dancers to perform for them.

In 1993, on Vijayadasami, her group performed at Bharati Vidya Bhavan in the presence of Swamiji Vithamma, Sri Muthu Krishna Mission Trust. She was impressed by the performance and appreciated the dancers of the performance. In 1994, she organised a program in Colombo in which Kandapuranam was staged for the first time for 7 days, when Swamiji asked Smt. Ranganayaki to perform the complete story of Lord Muruga. The same was later performed in Coimbatore for 7 days. Most of the dance dramas and thematic presentations were staged for the first time in the august presence of Swamiji Vithamma, as sister was sentimentally bound with her. The school has performed more than 100 times in the presence of Pujyashri Mathaji. Smt. Ranganayaki is grateful to Swamiji who has organised a number of programs for SGN through the Trust and helped the institution reach a wider audience.

Her students have been rendering a number of solo and group performances in many Prestigious Sabhas and Temples across the world. Even today, she travels along with her students to watch the program and encourage them. She has conducted over 550 Arangetrams till now. Many of her students have taken up dance as their profession and have established their own institutions.