Sandhya Rajan

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Sandhya Rajan

Mohiniyattam- Indian Classical Dance

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.

Achievements

  • Sandhya was a constant presence throughout the 80’s and 90’s performing during important temple festivals such as the ‘Ashtami’ Festival at Vaikom Mahadeva Temple, Ambalapuzha Srikrishna Temple, Chottanikkara Bhagavathy Temple, Kodungallor Devi Temple, Kollur Mookambika Temple. She has also performed for the Shivarathri Dance Festival at The Brihadeeswara Temple (Big Temple), Thanjavur.
  • Performed for dance festivals such as the Soorya Festival, Nishagandhi Festival and so on.
  • Performed at the ‘Triveni Sangamam’ dance festival organized by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) at Kamaini Auditorium at New Delhi in 1990.
  • Performed as a part of the panel of Mohiniyattam dancers of the Kendra Sangeetha Nataka Akademy for the dance festival conducted by the Sangeetha Nataka Akademy at Thiruvananthapuram in 1993.
  • Performed the Kathakali ‘Rukmini Swayamvaram’ with her grandfather and revered guru Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair and her sister Smitha Rajan, with Sandhya assuming the role of Krishna, at Poornathrayeesha Temple, Thripunithura.
  • Performed Mohiniyattam countless times for various Television shows in popular channels such as D.D. Malayalam, Surya, Asianet and Kairali.
  • Performed as a veena artist with 110 ensemble veena artists at the valanjambalam temple festival in Ravipuram under the guidance of Smt. Chithra Subrahmanian in 2015.
  • Performed for Sri Sri Ravishankar’s birthday at his ashram in Bangalore as a veena artist with 2000 ensemble veena artists in 2016.