Sandhya Rajan the founder of Nrithyakhsethra (Temple of Dance) found a keen interest in learning classical dance forms from a very young age, her achievements in the classical dance form Mohiniyattam have no bounds and her inspiration has always been her Guru and her mother Smt Sreedevi Rajan. Nrithyakhsethra was started to follow our passion and spread the divinity of this dance form to one and all. We have grown to 232 students with 1,463 hours of programmes until now and 15 of the most talented and well-trained Gurus who put their heart and soul into these classical dance forms.
Smt Sandhya Rajan is the granddaughter of the renowned dignitaries of Indian classical dance, ‘Abhinayachakravarthy’ and Legendary Kathakali performer, Padmasree Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair and ‘Mother of Mohiniyattam’, Guru Kalamandalam Kalyanikutti Amma.
Coming from such an esteemed family with so many talented legends, quite naturally, Sandhya started her training in Mohiniyattam and Bharathanatyam at the tender age of 4 under the tutelage of her grandmother Guru Kalamandalam Kalyanikutti Amma and then from her mother kalasree Sreedevi Rajan. Her aunt, ‘Natya Kalarathnam ‘Kala Vijayan, was also her guru in Bharathanatyam. Under the guidance of her grandfather Guru Padmasree Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair, Sandhya received her training in the art of Kathakali and special training in ‘Mukhajabhinaya’ and ‘Mudra’. Sandhya received further training in other art forms such as Kuchipudi dance form from Guru Kalamandalam Mohana Thulasi and proficiency in playing the veena from Smty. Chithra Subrahmanian.
As a traditional disciple through the ‘Guru Sishya Parampara’ norm, in addition to this Sandhya also has a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts (B.A. and M.A) degree in Mohiniyattam from from R.L.V. College of Music and Fine Arts, Thripunithura. She has also served as a lecturer in Mohiniyattam in her alma mater through years 2008-2012.