Renowned Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dancer Yamini Krishnamurthy no more; death at age of 83 in New Delhi

NEW DELHI: Renowned dancer Yamini Krishnamurthy passed away. She was under treatment in the hospital for a long time due to age-related ailments. The dancer died at the age of 83 at Apollo Hospital in the national capital.

Yamini Krishnamurthy was one of the most famous dancers in India. She was a unique artist who excelled in the classical dance forms of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. She knew Odissi as well.

Yamini Krishnamurthy was instrumental in popularizing Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi in North India and various parts of the world. She was born on 20 December 1940 in an art-passionate family in Chittoor Madanapalle, Andhra. The family later moved to Tamil Nadu. Her father was a Sanskrit scholar and her grandfather was an Urdu poet. She joined the Chennai Kalakshetra and started studying dance at an early age itself.

Yamini spent all her early years in Chidambaram. Thillai Nataraja Temple, its sculptures and the stories associated with the temple influenced her life a lot. She gave her first public performance in 1957 in Chennai and never looked back. At the age of 28, she was honoured by the country with the Padma Shri. She was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2001 and Padma Vibhushan in 2016.