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Udupi Laxminarayanan

Dance is the art of expression. Every movement in dance is very important. It may be said proudly that Bharatnatyam is the mother of all dances. One of the great exponents in this form of art is Udupi Laxminarayan.

Udupi laxminarayan has considerable achievements as lead dancer in dance dramas and other group presentations, as a composer of new items and as a pathbreaker and innovator within tradition. What is remarkable is his guru bhakti, his warm and respectful regard for Kancheepuram Ellappa Mudaliar.

Laxminarayan was bom on September 17, 1926, in a family of Vedic and Sanskrit scholars. Udupi Krishnamacharya, his grandfather, was a scholar, well-versed in various sastras - Vedanta, Nyaya, Vyakarna and Tarka - and used to teach the mathadhipatis or heads of religious mutts in Udupi. Srinivasacharya, his father, had mastered the Sudha Grantha, which comprises the essence of Vedanta.

As per the family tradition, Laxminarayan leamt the Sama Veda and after six years of school, joined the local Sanskrit college known as Sriman Madhwa Siddhanta Samskrita Mahapatasala. He completed 11 years of the 12-year programme leading to the title of Sironmani. He studied along with the Pejawar Mutt's Swami Vishweswara Teertha at the mutt and became very close to him.

He was exposed to devotional music very early in his life. His maternal grandfather used to conduct bhajans everyday and sing the songs of Purandaradasa, Kanakadasa and others. His mother, who also used to sing these songs, taught him many of the padas. 

But his paternal grandfather did not like this much since he wanted him to become a Sanskrit pandit and not a minstrel. Also, he was so orthodox as well as patriotic that Laxminarayan had to take a bath if he was caught singing or reciting the English alphabet!

Laxminarayan, on his part, was keen to leam music properly and towards this end, he sneaked away to Dharwar with the secret blessings of his parents and without the knowledge of his patemal grandfather. There he enrolled himself as a student of the Bharatiya Nritya Kala Kendra, believing he could leam Camatic music. To his surprise and dismay, he found only Hindustani music was being taught at this college. 

The principal, who was also the dance master, suggested that, in the circumstances, he might leam Hindustani music first, but Laxminarayan found that even this avenue was blocked as the music teacher did not show much interest in tutoring him. 

When the young man complained about this to principal Srinivas Kulkarni, he came up with another idea: "Laxminarayan," he said, "you have a good figure for dance and I would be glad to train you." In fact, he more or less compelled the young man to learn dance.

Laxminarayan's first stage appearance was as part of a group. Yet it won him a lot of appreciation and Kulkarni started teaching him individually, away from the other youngsters. After giving him special training for two years, Kulkarni suggested that Laxminarayan should go to Madras and learn Bharatanatyam from a good teacher there. 

The Pejawar Swami gave his blessings and, at this, Laxminarayan's father and grandfather gave him permission to do so. The youngster arrived in the then Madras at the end of 1948. He was, at that time, 22 years of age.

The Pejawar Swami also helped Laxminarayan find his feet in Madras. He introduced him to Woodlands proprietor Krishna Rao, in whose house he was staying and performing pooja. 

Krishna Rao told Laxminarayan he could stay with him, further, he arranged for him to learn Carnatic music. But, when the latter had occasion to see a performance by the famed Uday Shankar, he realised men could learn and perform dance gracefully - and this encouraged him to pursue his dance studies. 

At this, Krishna Rao introduced Laxminarayan to Kancheepuram Ellappa Mudaliar, who was then teaching Bharatanatyam to his daughters and requested him to teach the newly-arrived youngster from Udupi. Luckily for Laxminarayan, Ellappa agreed.

It was almost like gurukulavasam for him since he spent most of the day at the guru's house and went home only to eat and sleep. Since he was not getting any financial support from his own family, he had to earn some money for his expenses on clothing, transport, etc. 

At this point, the head of the Oriental section of the University Library agreed to give him a job on the recommendation of Mariappa Bhatt, professor of Kannada. The task assigned to him was to translate into Kannada some of the Sanskrit palmleaf manuscripts dealing with some sastra's, which were required for publication.

Ellappa was a perfectionist and he would spend even two months teaching a single adavu, if that were necessary. This approach also helped him to check if Laxminarayan was serious about learning Bharatanatyam. It was almost a year before the natyacharya began to teach Laxminarayan seriously but, as if to compensate for this, he got him ready for the stage in another year. Curiously, he had not been told that the young man from Udupi had already received some training in dance.

Apprenticeship under Ellappa was a marvellous learning experience for Laxminarayan. He learnt dance, of course, but he learnt much more than that. The maestro taught him Tamil; the importance of enunciating - and understanding - the lyrics of a song properly; the need to apply his mind to the meaning of the songs; and the art of nattuvangam and the skills needed for it, especially how to utter the jatis with the proper intonation and the appropriate stress on 'vallinam' and 'mellinam' or thick and thin shades. Even while he was yet a disciple, Laxminarayan had opportunities to practice what he had learned, for Ellappa would send him as a substitute to conduct the recital of one or the other disciples whenever he himself could not do so.

Ellappa, who used to refer to Laxminarayan affectionately as 'my sishya pillai', was a kind and liberal teacher as well.

Laxminarayan received instruction and guidance from Ellappa for a little over eight years, during 1949-1957, although he started dancing on the stage before the end of that period. Even after the formal apprenticeship ended, he continued n to seek - and obtain - guidance from his guru, from time to time, especially in regard to his innovative ideas.

In 1963 he passed the Government Higher Grade examination in dance with a first class. Knowledge of theory is essential for this course and Laxminarayan studied all the relevant texts on dance in the original Sanksrit language. He obtained permission to write his answer papers in Kannada. 

Laxminarayan's first serious appearance on the stage was as a member of the dance group of Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury, who was also a disciple of Ellappa.

It was through Bhaskar that he entered the world of cinema as a dancer. Bhaskar was scheduled to direct dance for a film being produced by S S Vasan's Gemini Studios. The film was 'Raji My Darling' and Bhaskar also acted in it. Since Laxminarayan had already danced as a member of his troupe, Bhaskar was quick to select him as one of the dancers for the film. 

Later, Laxminarayan had a dancer's role in another Gemini film, 'Valliyin Selvan' as well, he joined the studio as a staff artiste. Though this did not help him to improve his Bharatanatyam, it gave the opportunity to learn a lot about the techniques of cinema. 

The job, which he held for six months, earned for him Rs 750 a month, a very handsome salary at that time, and also gave him various perks. But he did not stay with the job for long because other film producers beckoned him with better terms. He turned a freelancer, danced and later directed dance, in innumerable films. 

The list grew steadily. A dance number he performed in 'Paattum Bharatamum', the jatis he choreographed for Ragini to perform in Ashok Pictures 'Kalpana', the jatis he recited for a dance sequence featuring Padmini with Raj Kapoor as the one reciting the jatis on camera in the film 'Mera Naam Joker', and an acting-dancing role in the Hindi film, 'Kitna Badal Gaya Insaan', starring Nalini Jaywant are noteworthy. He was involved in one way or another with about 150 films in all. The majority of them were Telugu and Kannada films, although he did direct dance in Tamil and Malayalam films too. He took part in films made in Konkani and Tulu.

It was Sivaji Ganesan who got him the chance first for dance direction. Laxminarayan was called the company dance master in the Sivaji Nataka Manram and the actor respected and appreciated the dance master's abilities. 

First he directed one item in 'Sumathi En Sundari'. Next, he was given a chance in 'Gauravam'. Some of his co-workers in the film field felt he could handle Bharatanatyam only and the cabaret-type pieces, popular in cinema, were not his metier. In fact, they felt he was unfit in the film world since he did not eat meat, drink alcohol or even smoke cigarettes! But he proved them wrong. His direction of a 'club dance' in 'Gauravam' was a revelation and it was so greatly appreciated by Devan, the film's editor and a cutting room expert.

Some of his famous disciples include Sujatha Srinivasan, Laxminarayanan's daughter Madhumitha Prakash, Anandavalli Sivanthan, Jayanthi Ramanujam, Radhika and Prabhu Deva.

Some of the honours he received:

• Bharata Natya Chakravarty - 1985 (Gnanananda Seva Samajam and Bhagavata Sammelana Samajam, Chennai)

• Bharata Natya Praveena -1988 (Pejawar Math, Udupi)

• Honoured by the Chennai, Karnataka Sangha in 1988 as a mark of their appreciation to his outstanding contribution to the field of Bharatanatyam.

• Felicitated by Karthik Fine Arts Club, Madras, for his excellence in the art of Bharatanatyam in 1990 at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chennai

• Nritta Maaraayar - 1991 (Chidambaram Natyanjali Trust)

• Natya Kalaimani - 1995 (Pollachi Tamillsai Sangam) 

• Awarded gold medal in 1995 by the Kalaimagal Sabha

• Honoured by the Kalanilayam, Chilakaturepeta, Andra Pradesh in May 1996

• Bharatha Kala Acharya - 1997 by Shree Bharatalaya at their golden jubilee celebration

• Nattuvangam Ratnam -1999 by Shalangai Oli Trust.

• In 1999 VDS Arts Acadamy awarded him the best guru award for his contribution as Bharatanatya guru.

• On May 22, 2000, he was awarded with the title 'Nritya Kala Mahodhadhi' by Sri Vishwesha Theertha Swamiji of Pejawar Mutt, Udupi, at the 10th annual day function of Radha Krishna Nritya Niketan.

• On the October 7, 2001, Udupi Sri Laxminarayan was honoured by Bharat Cultural Integration Committee along with Madras Telugu academy on their 'Bharata Natyotsav', the 29th National Festival under the name 'Spirit of Unity concerts for Universal Integration'.

• On April 7, 2002, awarded 'Karnataka Kalashree' by the Karnataka state government for his outstanding achievement in the field of dance.

• He has the honour of receiving the first 'Acharya Choodamani' title introduced and awarded by Sri Krishna Gana sabha, Chennai, on December 12, 2002.

• On November 24, 2003, he was awarded 'Kalaimamani' by the Tamil Nadu state government for his outstanding achievement in the field of dance.