Rukmini Devi Arundale
When I say Indian classical dance, what’s the first word that pops up? If you said Bharatanatyam, you need to meet the superwoman who gave it new life - Rukmini Devi Arundale.
Born in 1904 in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, she was raised Hindu and proudly carried the spirit of our Sanatan Dharma worldwide.
But her worldview - that all faiths are part of one universal truth - was shaped early on by Annie Besant and the Theosophical Society, which united people across religions.
Her husband, George Arundale, was a theosophist too. As India’s cultural ambassador, she travelled the world and crossed paths with the legendary ballerina Anna Pavlova - who pushed her to revive India’s own dance heritage.
Back then, what we call Bharatanatyam was looked down on, known as Sadir or Dasi Attam, mostly performed by devadasis in temples.
The art form, rooted in ancient texts like Nāṭyaśāstra by Bharat Muni, had lost its place in respectable society.
By the 1930s, Rukmini Devi learned the dance and reimagined it for the public stage - dropping any parts considered too erotic, refining costumes, setting musicians off-stage, adding plain backdrops to spotlight expressions, and turning every recital into a sacred offering.
In 1936, she founded Kalakshetra in Adyar - which later expanded in Tiruvanmiyur - to teach Bharatanatyam and revive traditional arts like handloom weaving. She composed over 30 dance-dramas on themes like the Ramayana and Bhagavad Gita - classics still performed today.
Beyond dance, she was ahead of her time: she championed animal rights, founded the Animal Welfare Board of India, and drove the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 - the backbone of India’s animal laws today. She spoke for vegetarianism decades before it was cool.
For all this, she earned the Padma Bhushan, became the first Indian woman in the Rajya Sabha, and even had her own postage stamp after her death in 1986.
Thanks to Rukmini Devi, Bharatanatyam today is more than a dance - it’s a sacred showcase of our Sanatan Dharma for the whole world.