Sumitra Charat Ram (17 November 1914 – 8 August 2011) was a noted Indian

arts patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

, impresario and the founder of

Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra (SBKK) is an Indian cultural institution which runs a school for music, dance and performing arts in New Delhi. It was founded by Sumitra Charat Ram in 1952, and imparts training in Indian classical dance styles ...

(SBKK) established in 1952. She played a key role in the revival of performing arts, especially Kathak, in the post-independence era, for which she received a

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

Award. She was the wife of industrialist Lala Charat Ram of

DCM Shriram Group DCM Textiles, formerly known as Delhi Cloth & General Mills (founded in 1889 by Rai Bahadur Ram Kishen Das Gurwale), is an Indian conglomerate which was initially a textile business which opened its first mill in Delhi. Starting from late 1980s ...

Early life and background

She was born on

Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is ...

day in 1917 to Raja Jwala Prasad and Rani Bhagyawati in Meerut in United Provinces, now in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. Her father was the Chief Engineer of Canals and Irrigation of United Province (U.P). She was the youngest of her five siblings: brothers Dharam Vira, Kanti Vira and Satya Vira, and sisters Yashoda and Sushila. He elder brother

Dharma Vira Dharma Vira OBE, ICS (20 January 1906 – 16 September 2000) was an Indian civil servant and politician who served as the governor of Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal and Karnataka. Vira also served as a Cabinet Secretary of the Government of India ...

(1906–2000) joined ICS (1906–2000) and was Cabinet Secretary of the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

, as well as a governor of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, West Bengal and

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Career

After her marriage to Lala Charat Ram, son of

Lala Shri Ram Sir Shri Ram (also Lala Shri Ram; 27 April 1884 – 11 January 1963) was an Indian industrialist and philanthropist. He was the son of Rai Bahadur Ram Kishen Das Gurwale, the founder of the Delhi Cloth & General Mills, which remains one of the ...

, she gradually became an art patron. In 1947, upon the suggestion of

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North Ind ...

, she took a loan of Rs. 10,000 from her father-in-law, and started the Jhankar Committee in Delhi. At the turn of the

independence of India The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...

s were abolished, which also left a large of number of musicians and dancers without patronage. Thus in the coming years, Jhankar provided patronage to leading musicians and artists of the time by organising musical concerts and dance performances. This included Siddheshwari Devi, Ravi Shankar,

Hafiz Ali Khan Hafiz Ali Khan (1888–1972) was an Indian sarod player.Brick, mortar & false notes
Dawn (newspaper), Published 29 Ap ...

, Baba

Allaudin Khan Allauddin Khan, also known as Baba Allauddin Khan ( – 6 September 1972) was an Indian sarod player and multi-instrumentalist, composer and one of the most notable music teachers of the 20th century in Indian classical music. For a generation m ...

, Shambhu Maharaj, Sunder Prasad, Birju Maharaj,

Durga Lal Pandit Durga Lal (1948 - 21 January 1990) was a renowned Kathak dancer of the Jaipur Gharana. He was born in Mahendragarh, Rajasthan. He is known for playing the main role in the 1989 dance drama ''Ghanashyam'', the music of which was composed by ...

and

Aminuddin Dagar Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar (20 October 1923 at Indore, India – 28 December 2000 Kolkata, India), of Dagar Gharana of Dhrupad singing Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra

She went on to establish

, a performing arts and music school in 1952, where noted gurus of the time were teachers, with noted classical singer Nilina Ripjit Singh, later known as

Naina Devi Mata Naina Devi is a town and a municipal council in Bilaspur district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Demographics As of the 2001 India census, Naina Devi had a population of 1161. Males constitute 63% of the population and females 3 ...

, acting as its director. Throughout the 1950s, SBKK remained a focal point for the top dancers and musicians of the period, especially among leading gurus of Kathak

gharana In Hindustani music (North Indian classical music), a ''gharānā'' is a system of social organisation in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and more importantly by adherence to a particular mus ...

s, and Delhi became a centre of cultural revival as well new creative bursts in performing arts. The

National Institute of Kathak Dance National Institute of Kathak Dance, also known as Kathak Kendra, is the premier dance institution for the Indian classical dance form of Kathak, and a unit of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, situat ...

or Kathak Kendra was originally established as the Kathak wing of the Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra in 1955, and was later taken over by the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. History It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and be ...

, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama in 1964. Massey, p. 29 In February 2011, the first 'Sumitra Charat Ram Award for Lifetime Achievement' established by Shri Ram Bhartiya Kala Kendra was awarded to Pandit Birju Maharaj .

Awards

For her contributions to the arts, in 1966, she was awarded the

Award, fourth highest civilian honours, by

Personal life

Her husband Charat Ram built companies like Shriram Pistons, Jay Engineering, Usha International and Shriram Industrial Enterprises Ltd. (SIEL). He died on 16 May 2007, at the age of 89, survived by his sons Deepak and Siddharth, and daughters Shobha and Gauri. Her father-in-law

had established educational institutions like

Lady Shri Ram College Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR) is a constituent women's college, affiliated with the University of Delhi, and has a legacy in women's education. History Established in 1956 in New Delhi by the late Lala Shri Ram in memory of his wife ...

(established 1956), Shri Ram College of Commerce (established 1926). Shri Ram School in Delhi, was founded by Manju Bharat Ram, wife of Arun Bharat Ram, Lala Bharat Ram's son. She died on 8 August 2011 in New Delhi, after a brief illness at the age of 96. She was survived by her centenarian sister Sushila, and her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her daughter, Shobha Deepak Singh, continues to run Bhartiya Kala Kendra.

Bibliography

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References

External links

Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra, Official websiteShri Ram Centre for Performing Arts, website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ram, Sumitra Charat 1914 births 2011 deaths Impresarios People from Meerut Indian patrons of the arts Patrons of schools Founders of educational institutions Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Lady Shri Ram College alumni 20th-century Indian philanthropists