Guru Kelu Nair was a renowned Kathakali dance artist and teacher. He trained in Kathakali from

Kerala Kalamandalam Kerala Kalamandalam, deemed to be University of Art and Culture by the Government of India, is a major center for learning Indian performing arts, especially those that developed in the Southern states of India, with the special emphasis on K ...

under gurus like Pattikkantodi Ravunni Menon and

Guru Kunchu Kurup Guru Kunju Kurup (1881–1970) was a Kathakali dancer from south Kerala, India. Life Born in a Poypallilkulam family of Thakazhi village of Kuttanad in present-day Alappuzha district, Kurup was initiated into Kathakali at the age of 13 by hi ...

. He pursued higher studies in

Rasa-abhinaya Indian art evolved with an emphasis on inducing special spiritual or philosophical states in the audience, or with representing them symbolically. Rasas in the performing arts The theory of rasas still forms the aesthetic underpinning of ...

from Rasa-abhinaya maestro guru ''Nātyāchārya Vidūshakaratnam

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

Māni Mādhava Chākyār Guru Mani Madhava Chakyar (IAST: ''Māṇi Mādhava Cākyār'') (15 February 1899 – 14 January 1990) was a celebrated master performance artist and Sanskrit scholar from Kerala, India, considered to be the greatest Chakyar Koothu and Koodi ...

. In 1936, he was invited by Sri

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

to establish the first Kathakali curriculum at

Visva-Bharati University Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the ...

Santiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...

. There were no Kathakali accompanists during the time, and he composed Kathakali dance in Rabindra Nritya. Only after Kathakali arrived in Santiniketan, Tagore wrote the dance drama Shyama in which the characters Bajrasen and Kotal were created with the Kathakali technique in mind. He remained as a faculty member in Santiniketan until the death of Tagore in 1941. Noteworthy disciples of Guru Kelu Nair include

Mrinalini Sarabhai Mrinalini Vikram Sarabhai (11 May 1918 – 21 January 2016) was an Indian classical dancer, choreographer and instructor. She was the founder and director of the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, an institute for imparting training in dance, ...

, Rukmini Devi Arundale and Yog Sunder Desai. Guru Kelu Nair was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1992 for his outstanding contribution to the field of Kathakali.

References

{{authority control Malayali people Dancers from Kerala People associated with Santiniketan Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Kathakali exponents Educators from Kerala 20th-century Indian educational theorists 20th-century Indian dancers Male actors from Kerala

See also

References