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 Dr. Padmini Chakraborty- Anusha Chakrabortye-mail: anushachakraborty24363@gmail.com October 21, 2025  Dr. Padmini Chakraborty, the pioneer of Bharatanatyam dance in the North-eastern state of Tripura, passed away on 13th October 2025. Born in 1946, she initially started her dance training in Manipuri dance from Raj Kumar Surendrajit Singha and Chandrajit Singha. During her time in Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, she trained under legendary Bharatanatyam gurus Kattumannarkoil Muthukumaran Pillai and Ellappa Nattuvanar and learnt Kathakali from Guru Govindan Kutty. Dr. Padmini was the first person from Tripura, to complete her Master's degree and PhD in Bharatanatyam. Her tireless work led to the commencement of the first Bachelor's degree course in Bharatanatyam in the Govt. Music College, the sole govt. institution for music and dance education in Tripura at that time. Her institution 'Nrityangan' was one of the first institutes where students of Tripura got the opportunity to learn Bharatanatyam. Her famous productions include 'Mahua', 'Hirasingh Harijan', 'Eternal Circle of Life', 'Shyama', Chitrangada', 'Chandalika', 'Visarjan', 'Seven Sisters' and 'The Selfish Giant'. She has also been very instrumental in the establishment and working of the Tribal Folk Music College, an institution providing arts education to the tribal community of the state. Even during unstable periods of extremist uprisings, she bravely went to remote tribal villages researching and documenting their folk dances. Her research work has been published in the form of two books. Tripura didn't lose just a Bharatanatyam performer; it lost a guru, researcher, author and social reformer. She dedicated her life towards the promotion and popularisation of arts amongst the tribal and non-tribal communities of Tripura. She was an unsung hero, who worked for the sake of the arts and the artist.  Anusha Chakraborty, a Bharatanatyam dancer from Tripura, started her training under Sanhita Ghosh and further refined her skills at Bharata Kalanjali, Chennai. A CCRT scholarship holder and B graded artist of Doordarshan, she now works for the promotion of Bharatanatyam in the north-eastern region. Post your comments Please provide your name and email id along with your comment. All appropriate comments posted with name and email id in the blog will also be featured in the site. |
