Golden Jubilee Of Sri Mahalakshmi Natyalaya

Sri Mahalakshmi Natyalaya started by natyacharya S.K. Kameswaran and his wife Saroja Kameswaran held a grand celebration of its fiftieth anniversary on 5 September 2018, at the Sathguru Gnanananda Hall in Chennai.

- Sujatha Vijayaraghavan

The event was a significant landmark in several aspects.

S.K. Kameswaran had his training in Bharatanatyam and Carnatic vocal music from Mayavaram Mahadeva Pillai and had a very successful career as a natyacharya in Chennai from the 1960s. He was one of the few gurus who sang for his pupils as he did the nattuvangam. Padmini Ramachandran (nee Padmini Priyadarshini) was one of his acclaimed disciples. Later he was associated with natyacharya Vazhuvoor Ramiah Pillai and sang for several of his disciples including Kamala. Kameswaran imbibed the nuances of the Vazhuvoor bani in choreography and execution and adopted it in teaching his pupils later.

Saroja had her initial training under Bhupal, father of dancer Swarnamukhi, the inimitable exponent of the karanas. Soon she became a pupil of Kameswaran and they got married. They had a busy schedule of teaching dance in their home and in the homes of their pupils. Saroja took up appointment as a faculty member for dance at the famous Rosary Matriculation School in Mylapore. Scores of pupils had their arangetram under the Kameswarans and this quiet, dignified couple commanded love and respect from all quarters.

In 1957 they launched their school Mahalakshmi Natyalaya, named after their daughter Mahalakshmi. She was a gifted dancer groomed by her parents and participated in all the performances of the institution. Guru Ramiah Pillai conveyed his blessings to her by wielding the cymbals for the alarippu during her own solo arangetram.