Gayatri Packiarajan

🪔 About

Hi, I’m Gayatri Packiarajan, the founder of Chella Natyalaya, and a devoted practitioner of Bharatanatyam with over 21 years of experience as a dancer and more than 5 years as a teacher and mentor. Awakening Bhagavan’s consciousness in children through dance is not just my work, but my seva and life’s mission. Our family has been ardent devotees of Lord Arunachala and Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi since my grandfather’s time, and this lineage of devotion has shaped the path I walk today. From a young age, guided by my mother and Guru, I have been blessed to learn and present dance-dramas that bring alive the divine leelas of the Lord. Through this, I discovered how natya (dance) can awaken bhakti, discipline, and inner joy in young hearts. With this inspiration, I continue the journey of using Bharatanatyam as a sacred medium — nurturing not just dancers, but children who grow with values, devotion, and a deeper connection to dharma, something our world deeply needs today. I began my journey under the loving guidance of my mother, Dr. Rameswari Raman, and completed my Arangetram under the mentorship of Smt. Kalai Selvi Krishnamoorthy, who honored me with the Nrithya Saadhika Award for my dedication to this classical tradition. From 2004 to 2017, I had the unique blessing of performing in devotional dance-dramas for the Sri Ramana Ratha Yatra, through Ramana Kendram, Madurai, under the guidance of Dr. Kalarani Rengasamy. These experiences shaped my understanding of dance as a powerful form of spiritual storytelling. Since 2023, I’ve been offering my dance as devotion for Lord Jagannath Ratha Yatra through ISKCON Gothenburg, continuing my path of sacred performance in a global context. Though I am an engineer by profession, I’ve always been a dancer by soul. With Chella Natyalaya, now based in Sweden, my vision is to train young minds to offer devotion through dance and help them connect spiritually with themselves through the practice of Bharatanatyam. I offer both online and offline classes and have had the joy of training over 75 students around the world in the past five years. In addition to teaching and performing, I am also the author of Stop Feeding the Ego: Discovering Lord Shiva as the True Self, available on Amazon. Through my writing and my dance, I aim to create spaces for reflection, devotion, and inner transformation. Through every movement, every gesture, and every story, I strive to keep the sacred essence of Bhakti, cultural heritage, and self-realization alive — and to share this divine art with seekers across the world.