Born on 8th November 1920 in Kolkata, Dhanalakshmi was popularly known as ‘Sitara Devi’, if alive, would have been 97 years old. Addressed as ‘Nritya Samragni’ by Rabindranath Tagore Sitara Devi was known for her exceptional talent in Kathak dance. At the age of 16, she did her first stage performance and her quest for passion continued.
Sitara Devi was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1969) and the Padma Shree (1973), Kalidas Samman (1995) and Nritya Nipuna. She declined the “Padma Bhushan’ award saying that the government was not aware of the contributions she had made to the society and she will not accept anything less than the Bharat Ratna.
She was a veteran Kathak dancer but at the same time, she learned Russain ballet and other western forms of dances. Some of her disciples were Madhubala, Mala Sinha, Rekha, and Kajol. She expired on 25th November 2014.
Google doodle remembers her on her 97th birthday.
(Sitara Devi’s photograph is taken from Google Images)
