Rukmini Devi Arundale | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Rukmani Neelakanta Sastri (1904-02-29)29 February 1904 |
| Died | 24 February 1986(1986-02-24) (aged 81) |
| Years active | 1920–1986 |
| Spouse | |
| Awards | Padma Bhushan (1956) Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (1967) |
| Member of Parliament,Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 3 April 1952 – 2 April 1962 | |
| Constituency | Nominated |
Rukmini Devi Arundale (néeSastri; 29 February 1904 – 24 February 1986)[1] was an Indiantheosophist, dancer and choreographer of the Indian classical dance form ofBharatanatyam, and an activist foranimal welfare.
She was the first woman in Indian history to be nominated as a member of theRajya Sabha, the upper house of theParliament of India. The most important revivalist of Bharatanatyam from its original 'sadhir' style prevalent amongst the temple dancers, theDevadasis, she also worked for the re-establishment of traditional Indian arts and crafts.
She espoused the cause of Bharatanatyam which was considered a vulgar art form in the early 1920s. Recognising its beauty and value, she not only learned the dance, but also presented it on stage despite strong public protests.
Rukmini Devi features inIndia Today's list of '100 People Who Shaped India'.[2] She was awarded thePadma Bhushan in 1956,[3] and theSangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 1967.
Rukmini Devi was born inBritish Raj India in a TamilBrahmin family[4] on 29 February 1904 inMadurai ofTamil Nadu. Her father, Neelakanta Sastri, was an engineer with thePublic Works Department and a scholar, and her mother Seshammal was a music enthusiast.[5] He had a transferable job and the family moved frequently. He was introduced to theTheosophical Society in 1901. Her brother,Nilakanta Sri Ram, later became the president of the Theosophical Society.[6] Deeply influenced by theTheosophical Movement as a follower of Dr.Annie Besant, Neelakanta Shastri moved to Adyar, Chennai after retirement, where he built his home near the headquarters of theTheosophical Society Adyar. It was here that young Rukmini was exposed to not just theosophical thought, but also to new ideas on culture, theatre, music, and dance. Her meeting with the prominent British theosophist DrGeorge Arundale—a close associate of Annie Besant and later the principal of theCentral Hindu College inVaranasi—led to her building a lasting bond with him.[7]
They married in 1920 when she turned 16 and he was 26 years her senior at 42, much to the shock of the then conservative society.[8] After marriage, she traveled around the world, meeting fellow theosophists and also forging friendships with the educatorMaria Montessori, and the poetJames Cousins.[1] In 1923, she became the president of the All-India Federation of Young Theosophists, and the president of the World Federation of Young Theosophists in 1925.[9]
In 1928, the famous Russian ballerinaAnna Pavlova visited Bombay and the Arundale couple went to her performance, and later happened to travel on the same ship as her, to Australia where she was to perform next; over the course of the journey their friendship grew, and soon Rukmini Devi started learning dance from one of Anna's leading solo dancers,Cleo Nordi.[10] It was later, at the behest of Anna, that Rukmini Devi turned her attention to discovering traditional Indian dance forms which had fallen to disrepute, and dedicated the rest of her life to their revival.[11]
In 1933, at the Annual Conference of Madras Music Academy, she saw for the first time a performance of the dance form called theSadhir.[12] Later she learnt the dance fromMylapore Gowri Ammal and finally with the help ofE Krishna Iyer[13] from 'Pandanallur Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai'. In 1935, Rukmini Devi gave her first public performance at the 'Diamond Jubilee Convention of the Theosophical Society.[14]
In January 1936, she along with her husband,[15] establishedKalakshetra, an academy of dance and music, built around the ancient IndianGurukul system, atAdyar, atChennai. Today the academy is a deemed university under the Kalakshetra Foundation and is situated in its new in 100-acre (0.40 km2) campus inTiruvanmiyur, Chennai, where it shifted, in 1962.[16] Amongst its noted students areRadha Burnier,Sarada Hoffman,Anjali Mehr,Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay,Sanjukta Panigrahi,C V Chandrasekhar,Yamini Krishnamurthy andLeela Samson.[17]
Previously known for the last few centuries assadhir (Tamil:சதிராட்டம்), the Indian classical dance form ofBharatanatyam owes its current name to E Krishna Iyer and Rukmini Devi Arundale, who had been instrumental in modifying mainly thePandanallur style ofBharatanatyam and bringing it to the global attention, and removing the extraneous sringaar and erotic elements from the dance, which were the legacy of itsDevadasi association in the past.[18][19] Soon she changed the very face of the dance, by introducing musical instruments, like violin,[20] set and lighting design elements, and innovative costumes, and jewellery inspired by the temple sculptures.[21] Just as for her teacher she approached noted gurus in various arts and classical dances, for her productions, Rukmini Devi approached noted scholars for inspiration and classical musicians and artists, for collaboration, the result was the creation some of pioneering dance dramas-based on Indian epics like theValmiki'sRamayana andJayadeva'sGita Govinda.[22] Starting with famous dance dramas like, 'Sita Swayamvaram', 'Sri Rama Vanagamanam', 'Paduka Pattabhishekam' and 'Sabari Moksham', followed by 'Kutrala Kuruvanji', 'Ramayana', 'Kumara Sambhavam', 'Gita Govindam' and 'Usha Parinayam'.[23]
Schools based on theMontessori method were first started in India,[24] when Dr George Arundale invited DrMaria Montessori to start courses in the 'Besant Theosophical High School' in 1939, and later also established, the 'Besant Arundale Senior Secondary School', The College of Fine Arts, The Besant Theosophical High School, The Maria Montessori School for Children, The Craft Education and Research Centre and the U. V. Swaminatha Iyer Library, within theKalakshetra campus.
She also introduced a trend by inducing persons like Kamala Rani to learn nattuvangam for conducting recitals. Nattuvanars who guarded their own turf, were not given to teaching Devadasis Nattuvangam, which was a separate discipline of recitation of rhythmic syllables along with playing the cymbals. Yet another trend ushered in by her, in a female oriented Bharat Natam tradition, was introducing the male dancer in his own right. Exceptional gurus like Muthukumar Pillai who danced with his sister Kannamba and famous Thiruvarur Gyanam or even guru Kuppaiya Pillai performed in female disguise, which Krishna Iyer, also did.[25]
Rukmini Devi was nominated as a member of the Indian Parliament's Council of States (theRajya Sabha) in April 1952 and re-nominated in 1956. She was the first Indian woman to be nominated in Rajya Sabha.[26] Keenly interested in animal welfare, she was associated with various humanitarian organisations, and as a member of the Rajya Sabha, was instrumental for the legislation for thePrevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and for later setting up of theAnimal Welfare Board of India, under her chairmanship in 1962.[27] She remained on the board until her demise in 1986.
She did much work to promotevegetarianism in the country. She was vice-president ofInternational Vegetarian Union for 31 years from 1955, until her death.[28]
In 1977,Morarji Desai offered to nominate her for the post ofPresident of India twice, which she turned down.[29] In 1978, 'Kalamkari Centre' (pencraft) was set up at Kalakshetra to revitalise the ancient Indian craft of textile printing.[30] On encouragement fromKamaladevi Chattopadhyay, she encouraged natural dyeing and weaving atKalakshetra.[31] She died on 24 February 1986 in Chennai.[32]
In January 1994, an Act of theIndian Parliament recognised the Kalakshetra Foundation as an 'Institute of National Importance'.[15][33]
Year-long celebrations, including lectures, seminars and festivals marked her 100th birth anniversary, on 29 February, in 2004 at Kalakshetra and elsewhere in many parts of the world,[21] At the campus the day was marked by special function in which old students gathered from across India and the world, in a day of songs and recitals.[34] Also on 29 February, a photo exhibition on her life opened at the Lalit Kala Gallery in New Delhi, and on the same day, then PresidentAPJ Abdul Kalam released a photo-biography, written and compiled by DrSunil Kothari with a foreword by former presidentR Venkataraman.[35][36][37]
In 2016, Google honored Rukmini Devi on her 112th birthday with adoodle,[38][39] and later in the month marking the 80th year of the Kalakshetra Foundation held, 'Remembering Rukmini Devi’ festival of music and dance.[40] Google also featured her in the 2017 Google Doodle for International Women's Day.[41]
Though Rukmini Devi's mother was supportive of her decision (her father had passed away by then), there were strong protests from relatives and the community. The public protest was so bad that the couple was forced to marry in Mumbai. Dr. Besant stood by them. At her instance, the governor of Madras hosted a reception for the Arundales when they returned. It amused Rukmini Devi to see all those people who opposed her marriage at the reception
