Yamini Krishnamurthy

🪔 About

Yamini Krishnamurthy (born December 20, 1940, in Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh, India – died August 3, 2024, in New Delhi, India) was an acclaimed Indian classical dancer renowned for her virtuosic mastery of Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, and Odissi. Her father, M. Krishnamurthy, was a Sanskrit scholar, and her grandfather was an Urdu poet. Krishnamurthy began her Bharatanatyam training at the tender age of five at Rukmini Devi Arundale's Kalakshetra in Madras (now Chennai). She further honed her skills under esteemed gurus such as Kanchipuram Ellappa Pillai, Thanjavur Kittappa Pillai, Dhandayudhapani Pillai, and Mylapore Gouri Amma. Her professional debut took place in Chennai in 1957. Expanding her artistic repertoire, she trained in Kuchipudi under illustrious gurus like Vedantam Lakshmi Narayana Shastri, Chinta Krishnamurthi, and Pasumarthy Venugopal Krishna Sharma, playing a significant role in popularizing Kuchipudi as a solo dance form. She also learned Odissi from Pankaj Charan Das and Kelucharan Mohapatra. Beyond dance, Krishnamurthy was trained in Carnatic vocal music by M.D. Ramanathan and learned the Veena from Kalpakam Swaminathan. In 1990, she established her own dance institution, the Yamini School of Dance, also known as Nritya Kaustubha Cultural Society, in Delhi, where she dedicated her life to mentoring hundreds of students. She authored her autobiography, "A Passion for Dance," in 1995. Krishnamurthy was appointed as the Asthana Nartaki (resident dancer) of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam. Her life was entirely devoted to dance, and she remained unmarried. Awards & Honours: Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1977), Padma Shri (1968), Padma Bhushan (2001), Padma Vibhushan (2016), Asthana Nartaki (Resident Dancer) by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (2009), Natya Shastra Award from Shambhavi School of Dance (2014), Honorary Doctorate from Sri Venkateswara University, Kalidas Samman.