Legacy of the Pandanallur Gurus

The great Gurus of Bharatanatyam II

Arvind Kumar Sankar

In our journey of going through the great masters who have come in the lineage of the Tanjore quartets and who were instrumental in creating the Margam, we will look at the legacy of the Pandanallur bani in this edition.

A style of Bharatanatyam which is one of the most prominent amongst the schools of Bharatanatyam is the Pandanainallur school (more popularly known as the Pandanallur bani). It is unique because of its clean lines and subtle abhinaya. Guru Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai is its torch bearer.

Guru Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai with Mrinalini Sarabai

Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai was trained in nattuvangam by his cousin Kumaraswamy Nattuvanar, who made him master the art of creating instant jathi korvais. Not only did Pillai teach prominent personalities like Mrinalini Sarabai, Rukmini Devi Arundel, Shanta Rao, and Tara Chaudri, but he also taught Thangachi Ammal, Sabaranjitham, Pandanallur Rajamanikkam and Pandanallur Jayalakshmi and many other women from the Devadasi lineage.

Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai was very renowned across the country. Kubendranath Tanjorker of Gujarat came to Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai to learn the nuances of his style before he established the Tanjore Music and Arts Research Centre in Baroda. T. K. Swaminatha Pillai who stayed with Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai for over a decade imbibed this style and popularised it by mentoring several students. Ramgopal was one among his notable students who pioneered in taking Bharatanatyam to the West.

Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai with Ramgopal

In the early 1900s, Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai was invited to the Ramanathapuram Samasthanam to receive the royalty’s prestigious Nalvar Thamboolam Bridhu instituted by the Sethupathy Maharaja. That is when he gifted the Maharaja a varnam in raga Vachaspati called Sarasudu Nee that glorified the ruler. The Maharaja witnessed this grand piece performed by Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai’s student Pandanallur Jayalakshmi. The Maharaja was in complete awe of the piece. The spirit of the raga, the rendering of the jathis, the poetry that praised his glory and Pandanallur Jayalakshmi’s gracious execution had a palpable effect on the him.

Upon witnessing this piece, he later sent word to Pillai expressing his desire to marry Pandanallur Jeyalakshmi. On hearing this wonderful news that his student is going to become the Queen of Ramnad, Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai was elated and composed Intha Kopamu yenara, a varnam in Thodi, in praise of the Maharaja. He also immediately trained Jayalakshmi to present it as an exclusivepiece at his court. Pandanallur Jayalakshmi’s career as a dancer came to an end very soon as she chose to outgrow her tradition since she entered royal matrimony and became Jayalakshmi Natchiar.

Pandanallur Jayalakshmi

C: Vaak

Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai was an impartial teacher. He had students come to him from various backgrounds. Among them, one of the most notable is Smt Rukmini Devi. She hailed from Madurai district and got to learn this artform from Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai when she was much older than her peers. While learning from him, she requested him to come to Madras and join her in executing her vision that later became Kalakshetra. He did not want to leave his place but promised to guide and help her in her vision. He then sent his son-in-law Chockalingam Pillai to stay in Kalakshetra. After spending enough years training students, young gurus and nattuvanars, whom he felt would hold up the tradition, Chokalingam Pillai decided to leave Kalakshetra in 1943. However, he decided to stay on in Madras and Sarangapani Iyengar came forward to patronize him through his Indian Institute of Fine Arts that was then situated in Egmore. His leading dance students at that time were Indrani Rehman, Mambalam Geetha, G Kousalya, Nirmala Ramachandran and Sucharitha Ratnavel Subramaniam.

Indrani Rehman with Guru Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai

Ram Rehman

Chokalingam Pillai continued to keep up the clean lines of linear geometry and intense but subtle abhinaya in his patantharam. All his students were taught to be firm and erect while dancing but also to be gracious in maintaining the curves and bends when required (in his own words, “Sila idathula sedhukki pidikanum, sila idathula thovalaya pidikanum”). Chokalingam Pillai was also an extremely conservative teacher and strictly taught only the 9 or 10 varnams and swarajathis mostly by the Tanjore Quartet. These include: Sakhiye (Anandha Bhairavi), Mohamana (Bhairavi), Sami Ninne (Navaragamalika), Danike (Thodi), Athi Moham Konden (Sankarabaranam), Ee Mandayanara (Huseni), Ee maguva (Dhanyasi), Sami Ni Rammanave (Kamas) & Sarasijanabha (Kambhoji). His father in law Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai had choreographed all the complex varnam pieces and coined apt jathis as interludes.

The last of this illustrious lineage of Gurus was Chokalingam Pillai’s son Subbaraya Pillai, who was born in 1914. He was with Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai at Pandanallur as an apprentice and later migrated to Madras to assist his father. Dr. Ratnavel Subramaniam’s daughter Sucharita learnt under Chockalingam Pillai. Later Dr. Ratnavel Subramaniam established a dance school in memory of his wife late Lalitha Subramaniam. The father son duo moved to Dr. Ratnavel Subramaniam’s premises and were running the Lalitha Subramaniam School of Bharatanatyam. Sucharita moved to the United States in 1966 and continued her dance journey there.

Sucharitha Ratnavel Subramaniam

C: Vaak

After Chokalingam Pillai’s demise, Subbaraya Pillai continued teaching at Lalitha Subramaniam school of Bharatanatyam. This school saw many students including Preetha Gopinath and Kavitha Sankar, Prema Sadagopan (Reddy), Anuroopa, Kamadev & Sangeetha. Among the various students he taught, Alarmel Valli, Meenakshi Sabanayagam (Citharanjan), and Padhmini Sundaram (Dorairajan) are noted studentswho have taken this style forward to the next generation through theirdance schools.

Meenakshi Sabanayagam (Citharanjan) with Guru Chockalingam Pillai

C: Kaladiksha

Pandanallur Srinivasa Pillai assisted Subbaraya Pillai in his concerts as his prime mridangist. Due to his long association with Subbaraya Pillai, he was pickled in the Pandanallur bani and knew the nuances of the framework. He has also played an important role in reviving the varnams in Kambhoji, Vachaspathi and Thodi.

This school of dance is very close to my heart and is unique because of its stylistic aesthetics that was nurtured by these gurus. This spirit has rubbed off on to the students of this bani who continue to innovate within the framework. I am hopeful that this art form will be preserved and passed on because anyone who has experienced this in their true spirit wouldn’t want to step out of this golden ring as it is unique, exceptional, and unparalleled.

Arvind Kumar Sankar Bio

Arvind Kumar Sankar is the Founder President of the Chinmaya Yuvakendra and the Founder Convenor of Intach Madurai Chapter. He also chairs the LAMPS trust. Arvind is a collector of antiquities and heritage artifacts. He is also the Founder Chairman of Arvind Constructions. His first book is ‘Pulli Kollam and the Creative Mind’ published by Palaniappa Brothers, Chennai

Alarmel Valli on her Gurus (Exclusively for Vaak)

Alarmel valli At her Arangetram with Guru Chokkalingam Pillai and Guru Subbaraya Pillai

"Pandanallur Chokkalingam Pillai and his son Pandanallur Subbaraya Pillai wererepositories of a lofty dance legacy. But they imparted this ancient tradition to meunstintingly – as a dynamic, living language. Subbaraya Pillai Sir’s choreography was alwayslyrical, musical and wonderfully diverse. I owe him a deep debt of gratitude for guiding mein the principles of choreography in the Pandanallur tradition, when I was just fifteen yearsold. He gave me a strong foundation and rich vocabulary, but also the freedom to be myown dancer. As role models who represented the highest values in dance, my gurusinspired me to dance with courage and truth".

Pandanallur Jayalakshmi on her Guru

Pandanallur Jayalakshmi

C:Vaak

"My mother would say that Thatha (guru Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai) called on her when I was born and blessed me. He told her that I will reach great heights in my career in dance and jokingly asked if he can start teaching me right away. I never realised that I would become so famous. It is purely because of his vision and blessings that I am one of the well-known artists in the Pandanallur Bani. I owe my success entirely to him".

Shanta Rao on her Guru

(All India Radio)

Shanta Rao

C: Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library

"When I speak of my dance, my mind is athrill with the thoughts of my gurus who made me what I am. They have been the greatest masters of traditions this century has known and acclaimed as such because of the vast store of knowledge they received from their forefathers. What is more, each one of them were a trained dancer before they took to teaching. No wonder they were rigorous in training their pupils and the grounding I received at their feet remains as one of the greatest of experiences I have had and the most unique.

Naturally, there would be rare items in my repertoire. In each of the 4 styles of dancing I amproud to present. When I proposed presenting thana varnam for the first time, my guru PandanallurMeenakshi Sundaram Pillai announced to the critical dance world “Shanta will present for the first timethana varnam which I have not taught anyone for over 50 years” and I did".