QUEEN OF KATHAK “SITARA DEVI”
Sitara Devi is a world-famous Kathak dancer, singer, and actress. She is also known as the Queen Of Kathak. She performed in many places in India and World as well, including at the Royal Albert Hall London (1967) and the Carnegie Hall New York (1976).
She was born to her father Sukhdev Maharaj and her mother was Matsya Kumari on 8 November 1920 in Kolkata. Her birth year coincided with the festival of Dhanteras, the eve of the Indian festival of Dipavali. Therefore, she is named Dhanlakshmi, in honor of the goddess of fortune Mata Lakhsmi. She started giving solo performances at the age of 10. Rabindranath Tagore described her as Nritya Samragni(empress of dance) after watching her performance at the age of 16. He encouraged her to revive the lost Indian performing arts (like kathak). She was a pioneer in bringing Indian dances to Bollywood.
Notable awards-She was the recipient of several awards and accolades like the Sangeet Natak Academy award (1969), Padma Shri(1973), Kalidas Samman 1995, and Nritya Nipuna.
She refused to accept the Padma Bhusan award, declaring, “it is an insult, not an honor,” and as a report from the Press Trust of India quoted her saying: “is this government not aware of my contribution to Kathak to Indian culture? I will not accept any award less than Bharat Ratna.
Sitara Devi revived one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance.
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