Rukmini Devi Arundale

Rukmini Devi Arundale (Tamil:ருக்மிணி தேவி அருண்டேல்) (29 February 1904 – 24 February 1986Centenary Celebrations, 2004
) was an Indian theosophist, dancer and choreographer of the Indian classical dance form of Bharatnatyam, and also an activist for animal rights and welfare.
She is considered the most important revivalist in the Indian classical dance form of Bharatnatyam from its original 'sadhir' style, prevalent amongst the temple dancers, Devadasis,Devdasi revivlaistsBharatnatyam rebirth she also worked for the re-establishment of traditional Indian arts and crafts.
Though she belonged to the Indian upper-caste she espoused the cause of Bharata Natyam, which was considered a low and vulgar art in the early 1920s. Recognizing the beauty and the spiritual value of this art form, she not only learned the dance, but also presented it on stage despite strong public protests. 
Rukmini Devi features in India Today's list of '100 People Who Shaped India'.India Today She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1956, and Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 1967.
==Biography==
===Early life and marriage===
Rukmini Devi was born on 29 February 1904 in an upper class Brahmin family in Madurai. Her father Neelakanta Sastri was an engineer with the Public Works Department and a scholar, and Seshammal was a music enthusiast. He had a transferable job and the family moved frequently. He was introduced to the Theosophical Society in 1901. Deeply influenced by the Theosophical Movement as a follower of Dr. Annie Besant, Neelakanta Sastri moved to Adyar, Chennai upon retirement, where he built his home near the headquarters of the Theosophical Society Adyar. It was here that young Rukmini was exposed to not just theosophical thought, but also new ideas on culture, theatre, music and dance, and later met the prominent British Theosophist Dr. George Arundale, who was a close associate of Annie Besant and later the principal of the Central Hindu College in Varanasi, and soon build a lasting bond with him.
They got married in 1920 much to the shock of the then conservative society. After marriage, she travelled all over the world, meeting fellow theosophists and also forging friendships with the educator Maria Montessori, and the poet James Cousins.Biography at naatya.org 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.The Hindu, 2 March 2001
In 1928, the famous Russian ballerina Anna 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.The Tribune, 22 September 2002 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 into their revival.Rukmini Devi Biography at thinkquest.org
===Revivalist===
In 1933, at the Annual Conference of Madras Music Academy, she saw for the first time, a performance of the dance form called Sadhir.Kalakshetra and Rukmini at katinkahesselink.net Later she learnt the dance from 'Mylapore Gowri Amma', and finally with help of E. Krishna Iyerprofile at sawnet.org from 'Pandanallur Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai'. In 1935, Rukmini Devi gave her first public performance at the 'Diamond Jubilee Convention of the Theosophical Society.Profile at nartaki.com 
In January 1936, she along with her husband,personalities at chennaibest.com established Kalakshetra, an academy of dance and music, built around the ancient Indian Gurukul system, at Adyar, near Chennai. Today the academy is a deemed university under the Kalakshetra Foundation and is situated in its new in campus in Tiruvanmiyur, Chennai, where it shifted, in 1962.livemint.com, Fri, 18 May 2007 Amongst its noted students are Radha Burnier, Sarada Hoffman, Anjali Mehr, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Sanjukta Panigrahi, C.V. Chandrasekhar, Yamini Krishnamurthy and Leela Samson.Noted students of Kalakshetra 
Originally known as sadhir, the Indian classical dance form of Bharatnatyam owes its current name, to E. Krishna Iyer and Rukmini Devi Arundale,Bharatnatyam, Spiritual terms who has been instrumental in modifying mainly the Pandanallur style of Bharatanatyam and bringing it to the global attention, and removing the extraneous sringaar and erotic elements from the dance, which were the legacy of its Devadasi association in the past, thereby raising it to the status of puritan art form.Bharatnatyam at indeembassyathens.gr Soon she changed the very face of the dance, by introducing musical instruments, like violin,Rukmini Devi at encarta set and lighting design elements, and innovative costumes, and jewellery inspired by the temple sculptures.The Hindu, 27 January 2003 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 the Valmiki's Ramayana and Jayadeva's Gita Govinda.The Hindu, 16 March 2003 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'.The Rediff, 27 February 2004
Schools based on the Montessori method were first started in India,Great indians at whereincity.com when Dr. George Arundale invited Dr. Maria 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 the Kalakshetra campus.
===Later years===
Rukmini Devi was nominated as a member of the Indian Parliament's Council of States, the Rajya Sabha in April 1952 and re-nominated in 1956.Indian heroes at iloveindia 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 The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act,1960 and for later setting up of the Animal Welfare Board of India, under her chairmanship in 1962, she remain on its board, until her demise in 1986. 
She was a strict vegetarian and did much work to promote vegetarianism in the country. She was Vice President of International Vegetarian Union for 31 years from 1955, until her death in 1986.Profile at International Vegetarian Union (IVU) 
In 1977, Morarji Desai offered to nominate her for the post of President of India, which she turned down.100 Tamils Rukmini Devi Arundale died on 24 February 1986 at Chennai. In 1978, 'Kalamkari Centre' ("pencraft) as set up at Kalakshetra to revitalise the ancient Indian craft of textile printing.November 1993, hinduismtoday.com
==Legacy==
In January 1994, an Act of the Indian Parliament recognised the Kalakshetra Foundation as an 'Institute of National Importance'.Kalakshetra Foundation Act 1993 Ministry of Law And Justice.chennaibest.com
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, At the campus the day was marked by special function in which old students gathered from across and abroad in a day of songs and recitals. 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 President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam released a photo-biography, written and compiled by Dr. Sunil Kothari with a foreword by former president R. Venkataraman.Centenary celebrations nartaki.com
==Awards and honours==
* Padma Bhushan (1956)
* Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1957)
* Desikothama (1972), Viswa Bharati University
* 1967 Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship
* Prani Mitra (1968), Friend of All Animals, (Animal Welfare Board of India)
* Queen Victoria Silver Medal, Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, London
* Kalidas Samman (1984), Govt. of Madhya Pradesh
* Addition to the roll of honor by The World Federation for the Protection of animals, The Hague
* Honorary Doctorate, Wayne State University, USA
* Scrolls of Honor, County and City of Los Angeles
==See also==
* Bharatnatyam
* Indian women in dance
==References==
==Further reading==
* Art and culture in Indian life. Kerala University Press, Trivandrum 1975
* Sarada, S.: Kalakshetra-Rukmini Devi, reminiscences. Kala Mandir Trust, Madras 1985
*India’s 50 Most Illustrious Women by Indra Gupta. Icon Publications, 2003. ISBN 81-88086-19-3.
* Selections, Some selected speeches & writings of Rukmini Devi Arundale. Kalakshetra Foundation, Chennai 2003.
* Rukmini Devi Arundale: Birth Centenary Volume, edited by Shakuntala Ramani. Chennai, Kalakshetra Foundation, 2003,
* Kalakshetra Foundation (Hrsg.): Shraddanjali, brief pen portraits of a galaxy of great people who laid the foundations of Kalakshetra. Kalakshetra Foundation, Chennai 2004
* Photo Biography of Rukmini Devi, Sunil Kothari. Chennai, The Kalakshetra Foundation, 2004.
* Meduri, Avanthi (Hrsg.): Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986), A Visionary Architect of Indian Culture and the Performing Arts. Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi 2005; ISBN 81-208-2740-6.
*Samson, Leela (2010). Rukmini Devi: A Life, Delhi: Penguin Books, India, ISBN 0-670-08264-3
==External links==
* Official website of Kalakshetra
* Photograph of Rukmini Devi
* Trans-national biography of Rukmini Devi
* Rukmini Devi and Kalakshetra
* http://www.crossart.com.au/index.php/Archive/axel-poignant-photographer-the-early-years-1929-1942.html
Category:People_from_Madurai
Category:Indian Theosophists
Category:1904 births
Category:1986 deaths
Category:Indian vegetarians
Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan
Category:Bharatanatyam
Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Category:Indian Hindus
Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship
Category:Indian classical dancers
Category:Animal rights advocates
Category:Animal welfare and rights in India
Category:Indian dancers
de:Rukmini Devi Arundale
fr:Rukmini Devi Arundale
hi:रुक्मिणी देवी अरुंडेल
it:Rukmini Devi
kn:ರುಕ್ಮಿಣಿ ದೇವಿ ಅರುಂಡೇಲ್
ml:രുഗ്മിണി ദേവി അരുണ്ഡേൽ
nl:Rukmini Devi Arundale
ta:ருக்மிணி தேவி அருண்டேல்
te:రుక్మిణీదేవి అరండేల్
Category:People_from_Madurai
Category:Indian Theosophists
Category:1904 births
Category:1986 deaths
Category:Indian vegetarians
Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan
Category:Bharatanatyam
Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Category:Indian Hindus
Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship
Category:Indian classical dancers
Category:Animal rights advocates
Category:Animal welfare and rights in India
Category:Indian dancers