Komala Varadan is an Indian classical dancer of

Bharatnatyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...

, writer and the founder of ''Kalaikoodam'', a Delhi-based institute for promoting arts, literature and culture. She is known to be proficient in various art forms such as choreography, photography and painting.

Career

Ms Varadan learnt classical dance from one of the leading dance maestros of India, Vazhuvoor Ramiah Pillai. She has performed on many stages in India and abroad. Her paintings have been exhibited at many galleries including the Russian Centre of Science and Culture (RCSC), New Delhi and the

National Gallery of Modern Art National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

, New Delhi. She has published two novels and a text on Bharatnatyam and has served as the member of the Jury of the 30th National Film Awards for the feature films section. She is also a member of the Authors Guild of India. Varadan is a recipient of the

Kalaimamani Award The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of ...

of the Government of Tamil Nadu, Rajyotsava Prashasthi of the Government of Karnataka, Natya Rani title, International Woman of the Year Award (1998 -1999) of the

International Biographical Centre The International Biographical Centre is a publisher owned by Melrose Press Ltd that specializes in producing biographical publications, such as the ''Dictionary of International Biography'', ''Great Men and Women of Science'' and other vanity awa ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, Sahitya Kala Parishad Samman and the Full Circle Inner Flame Award (1999). The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the

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 ...

, in 2005, for her contributions to Indian classical dance. Three years earlier, Varadan was in the news for a civil suit filed by her against the

Indian Council for Cultural Relations The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India's global cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their people. It was founded on 9 Apri ...

(ICCR), for categorising performing artists over the age of 45 as ''lecture-demonstration presenters''. However, the court ruling was against her. Her life has been documented in an autobiography, ''Komala Varadan'', published in 1985.

References

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Career

See also

References

External links

Further reading