Kapila Vatsyayan (25 December 1928 – 16 September 2020) was a leading scholar of Indian classical dance,

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, and art history. She served as a

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

and bureaucrat in India, and also served as the founding director of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. In 1970, Vatsyayan received the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship The Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, also known as Akademi Ratna Sadasyata, is an Indian honour for the performing arts presented by Sangeet Natak Academy. It is "the most prestigious and rare honour" conferred by the Academy and is "restricte ...

, the highest honour conferred 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 ...

, India's national academy for music, dance and drama; this was followed by the Lalit Kala Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour in the fine arts conferred by

Lalit Kala Akademi The Lalit Kala Akademi or National Academy of Art (LKA) is India's national academy of fine arts. It is an autonomous organisation, established in New Delhi in 1954 by Government of India to promote and propagate understanding of Indian art, in ...

, India's national academy for fine arts in 1995. In 2011, the Government of India bestowed upon her the

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without ...

, India's second highest civilian honour.

Early life and background

She was born in Delhi to Ram Lal and Satyawati Malik. She earned an MA in English literature from

Delhi University Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...

. Thereafter, she completed a second MA in Education at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, Ann Arbor, and a PhD at the

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916 ...

. The poet and art critic

Keshav Malik Keshav Malik (5 November, 1924 – 11 June, 2014) was an Indian poet, art and literary critic, arts scholar, and curator. He remained art critic for the ''Hindustan Times'' (1960–1972) and ''The Times of India'' (1975–2000). He published e ...

was her older brother, and she was married to the noted Hindi Writer S.H. Vatsyayan 'Ajneya' (1911–1987). They married in 1956 and separated in 1969.

Death

Kapila Vatsyayan died on 16 September 2020, aged 92, at her home in New Delhi. Kapila Vatsayan

Career

Vatsyayan authored many books, including ''The Square and the Circle of Indian Arts (1997)'', ''Bharata: The Natya Sastra'' (1996), and ''Matralaksanam'' (1988).Bouton, Marshall & Oldenburg, Philip, Eds. (2003). ''India Briefing: A Transformative Fifty Years'', p. 312. Delhi: Aakar Publications. In 1987, she became the founder trustee and member secretary of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (Indira Kalakendra), India's premier arts organisation, in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

. Thereafter, in 1993, she was made its academic director, a post she held until 2000, when she was retired by a BJP-led centre-right government. In 2005, when an Indian National Congress-led centre-left government returned to power, she was made the chairperson of the institution. She also served as Secretary to the Government of India in the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, where she was responsible for the establishment of a large number of national institutions of higher education. She was the chairperson of the Asia Project at the India International Centre, New Delhi. She is known for her collaboration with great artists, such as legendary

Koodiyattam Koodiyattam ( ml, കൂടിയാട്ടം; IAST: kūṭiyāṭṭaṁ; ) is a traditional performing art form in the state of Kerala, India. It is a combination of ancient Sanskrit theatre with elements of ''Koothu'', an ancient perfo ...

maestro Guru

Mani Madhava Chakyar 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 Kood ...

(1899-1990) and played pivotal role in safeguarding the legacy of classical Indian art forms. She was nominated as a member of the Upper House of

Parliament of India The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the ...

, the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

in 2006, though subsequently in March 2006, she resigned following an

office of profit An office of profit means a position that brings to the person holding it some financial gain, or advantage, or benefit. It may be an office or place of profit if it carries some remuneration, financial advantage, benefit etc. It is a term used in ...

controversy. In April 2007, she was renominated to the Rajya Sabha, with a term expiring in February 2012.

Awards

Vatsyayan received the

in 1970. In the same year she was awarded a fellowship from the John D. Rockefeller 3rd Fund to survey cultural institutions and contemporary art developments in the United States and Indonesia. She was awarded the prestigious

Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship The Jawaharlal Nehru Trust Scholarship U.K. was founded by Admiral Lord Mountbatten of Burma in 1966 as a tribute to the India's first Prime Minister – Jawaharlal Nehru – after his death in 1964. The scholarship was funded by the Nehru M ...

in 1975. In 1992 the

Asian Cultural Council The Asian Cultural Council (ACC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing international cultural exchange between Asia and the U.S. and between the countries of Asia through the arts. Founded by John D. Rockefeller III in 1963, AC ...

honoured her with the John D. Rockefeller 3rd Award for outstanding professional achievement and her significant contribution to the international understanding, practice, and study of dance and art history in India. In 1998, she received the "Outstanding Contribution to Dance Research" award, given by

Congress on Research in Dance Congress on Research in Dance was a professional organization for dance historians in the United States and worldwide that was founded in 1964 and then merged in 2017 with the Society of Dance History Scholars to form the Dance Studies Association ...

(CORD). In 2000, she was a recipient of Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award and in 2011, she was awarded the

by the Government of India.

Bibliography

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References

External links