Acharya Parvati Kumar

Acharya Parvati Kumar is an eminent classical dancer. He was born on February 27th, 1921. He was familiar with his close ones as Parvati Kumar. Apart from classic dancing, he is also reputable in choreography, and teaching Bharatanatyam. He became the guru of his disciples and followers. 

Regarding his early life, he honed his Bharat Natyam skills under Guru Chandrashekhara Pillai. He learned numerous compositions under the guidance of Guru Mahalingam Pillai and Smt. Mylapore Gowri Amma. He was interested in the art form known as Kathakali, therefore learned it from Guru Ratikant Arya and Guru Sundar Prasad. Meanwhile, he grasped the ideas behind Kathak from Guru Karunakar Panikar. He married Sumati, who’s also a dancer and teacher.

He choreographed almost twenty ballets in the Indian classical ballet style between 1942 and 1983. "Don of the New Era" (1942), " Sita Haran Story soon >> Read More... " (1943), "Sundopasunda" (1944), "By 1951" (1948), "Story of India" (1949), and "Rhythm of Culture" (1950)" (1950) are some of his famous works. He also created ballets for children, including "Manitaichi Phijiti" (1947), "Billy Mausi ki Phijiti" (1948), "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1958), " Panchatantra Click to look into! >> Read More... " (1970), "Apna Hath Jagannath" (1980), and "Durga Zali Gauri" (1983).

Between 1950 and 1968, he choreographed dance sequences for various Hindi and regional films, including "Gawna," "Dag," " Badshah Aditya Prateek Singh Sisodia, better known as Bads >> Read More... ," "Vishwamitra Menaka," and others. Establishment of Dance Institutions: In 1968, he established the "Thanjavur Nrityashala" to provide pupils with Bharat Natyam training. He made significant contributions to Bharat Natyam through his study and choreography, especially "Abhinaya Darpanam."

Awards: For his efforts, he won various honors, including the Maharashtra State Award for Outstanding Service in the Cultural Field (1969), the FIE Foundation Award for Ichalkaranji (1979), the Akhil Bharatiya Natya Parishad Award (1980), and others. As a teacher, he taught students to devote their time to learning Bharat Natyam to perfection. He used to usher the young ones into professional performers through rigorous practice over 10-15 years. Sucheta Bhide, Dr. Sanddhya Pureccha, and Guru Kirthi Nayak were disciples who were successful and made a name for themselves after training under Acharya Parvati Kumar. Acharya Parvati Kumar died on November 29th, 2012. Acharya, a disciple of the simple life, high-thinking philosophy, was unconcerned about recognition or renown. He kept a modest profile and remained committed to his beliefs and views. He was a great believer in the idea of art as worship, emphasizing that only total hard work and determination could make a dancer whole and that there was no shortcut to success.