Guru Indra Rajan has had an illustrious career as an accomplished Bharatanatyam exponent, teacher and nattuvangam artist.

Indra was born in 1939 in an Isai Velalar family at Karaikal in Tamil Nadu. Her grandmother Sundarambal was a renowned Sadir dancer of her time, mother Sundara Kamakshi was a well-known musician, and paternal uncles KN Dandayudhapani Pillai and KN Pakkiriswami Pillai were eminent natyacharyas. Indra was initiated into dance under Kutralam Ganesa Pillai and had her arangetram at the age of nine. She continued her gurukulavasam and launched on an independent dance career when she was 13 years old.

Indra has performed extensively in India and abroad. In the course of her long and successful career she was selected to perform in northern and eastern India under the cultural exchange programs of the Tamil Nadu Eyal Isai Nataka Manram. She has performed at important State functions and in the presence of dignitaries. She has composed dance to traditional songs from Tevaram, Tiruvachagam and Nalayira Divya Prabandham, and has choreographed many dance-dramas on varied themes. She has also tried her hand at dance choreography for films.

Indra Rajan holds a unique place among women nattuvanars. She excels in rendering complicated jati patterns and has a flamboyant and vibrant style of reciting the sollukattus with punch and vigour. She has wielded the cymbals for famous dancers like Vyjayanthimala Bali, Yamini Krishnamurthi, Alarmel Valli and her disciple Rajeswari Sainath.

She has conducted arangetram for more than 1000 disciples in the past three decades. Apart from imparting training at her dance school Vadhini Natyalaya established in Chennai in 1968, she has had a distinguished career in dance teaching. She was invited to teach dance at the Government College of Music, Chennai, and has been the 'asthana guru' for more than 20 years at the dance institution run by BHEL Tiruchi. The Sangeet Natak Akademi and the Tamil Nadu Eyal Isai Nataka Manram entrusted her with the responsibility of training artists in nattuvangam skills under two separate schemes. She has been selected as one of the 'eminent gurus' by the South Zone Cultural Centre of the Govt. of India.

She has been decorated with many honours and awards including Natya Kala Ratnam (1976), Natya Kala Bhushan (1976), Kalaimamani (1991), the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi award (1996) and Acharya Choodamani (2004).

Natyarangam, the dance wing of the Narada Gana Sabha Trust is happy to honour Guru Indra Rajan for her accomplishments and contribution to the field of Bharatanatyam.

Indra Rajan was born in Karaikal in Puducherry in 1939. Her mother was the well-known singer Sundara Kamakshi. Her music has been brought out as records. Indra Rajan learnt the art of dance that was the traditional heritage of her family, from when she was a small girl, from Kutralam Guru Ganesa nattuvanar. She had her arangetram in 1952. After a while she settled down in Chennai and opened a dance school named Vadhini Natyalaya. She not only taught students but also performed. She was the paternal cousin of the famous dance guru K J Sarasa.

Those days only men did the nattuvangam but Indra Rajan, as a woman nattuvanar, became equal to all of them. The special aspect of her nattuvangam was its rhythmic calculations and the clear way in which she pronounced the jathis, the rhythmic syllables, with such precision and appropriate hard and light stresses. Combined with her resonant voice, the jathis sounded like thunder and this earned her the admiration of the audience and her own students. Where nattuvangam was concerned there was no one to equal her.  She has done nattuvangam for eminent dancers like Vyjayanthimala Bali, Yamini Krishnamurthi and Alarmel Valli and also extensively travelled abroad. She has been decorated with many honours and awards including Natya Kala Ratnam (1976), Natya Kala Bhushan (1976), Kalaimamani (1991), the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi award (1996) and Acharya Choodamani (2004).

Since Indra Rajan teacher was related to my guru K J Sarasa, I respected her as my own guru. I have been close to her for several years. I have also travelled with her.  I have learnt from her some adavus, the basic steps, of some jathis and have also danced with her in a dance drama. Whenever I met her the days used to be spent with interesting chats and laughter as she was not only a good conversationalist but had a natural sense of humour. I continued to keep in touch with her visiting her and talking to her over the phone. Whenever I performed, she used to be there to bless me with a silk shawl. So many memories come to my mind—how she used to do physical exercise even in her old age and how she used natural products to do facials and how she was always active and bubbling with energy and happiness.

She lived for dance but fate dealt her a big blow once. Yes, a few years ago, all the money that was at home and all her jewels kept at home got stolen. This event traumatised her and for the first time, she was heartbroken. She could not accept that this could happen to her and went into depression.  Soon she was afflicted with Alzheimer’s. She was someone who had enjoyed being independent and had led a dignified life running dance classes and with Alzheimer’s her day-to-day life got affected. She was taken by her husband and son to Coimbatore. At one point when she lost their support, mridangist T Viswanathan and his family came to her aid and she was put in a senior citizens home. I heard that her students took care of the expenses.

Whenever I went to Coimbatore and met her, she did not remember anything of the present but remembered her young days very clearly and used to keep talking about them.  She would think that she was in Chennai and say it was getting late to go to her dance classes to teach. The senior citizens home she was in was in Pannimadai in Coimbatore.  There were only ten senior citizens there. Those years that she was in the Home the dance world and the dancers mostly ignored her.  Last year on International Dance Day (April 29) I was in Pondicherry and I heard that she had passed away and I hurried to Coimbatore. I went directly to the Thudiyalur electric crematorium on the morning of 30th. Her body had already been brought there in an emergency ambulance. There were some ten people there and I performed the funeral rites and lit her pyre.  What was cremated that morning was not just her body but also human kindness. For someone who had trained thousands of students not even one student had come for her cremation. And that is something that is very sad. That was the day that put an end to the sacred teacher-student relationship of Guru-Shishya Parampara.

So ended the journey of a renowned dance guru. When the pyre was lit, suddenly from the flames rose the resonating sound of jathis uttered with force and precision. Or was it my imagination? 

Thathinginathom!

Thaka thathinginathom!

Thakathiku Thathinginathom!