Padma Shri Sunayana Hazarilal

At eighteen, Sunayana Desai, the daughter of a Railways Officer, encountered Pt. Hazarilal on the steps of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Mumbai. She requested him to teach her Kathak, and he warmly welcomed her to his class. Her life was about to change forever.

Sunayanaji was enraptured by Guruji’s dance style and teaching. Within a few years she blossomed under Pt. Hazarilal’s tutelage – her lightning fast footwork, layakari and expressiveness born of rigorous practice heralded a major new exponent of the Gharana. Her fearlessness and determination found a channel in the mission to bring this style back on stage.

After a few years of training under Guru Pt. Hazarilal, teacher and student fell in love. “It was like we had found each other, and a common dream to establish the Banaras gharana,” says Sunayanaji. After marriage, a thirty-year groundbreaking dance partnership developed that saw the Jankiprasad style regain its lustre and soulful depth.

Over time, Sunayanaji created a niche for herself in the field of Kathak through the intensity of her abhinaya, technical virtuosity and vast, innovative repertoire. The couple premiered compositions – like Sab Din, Surpanakha, Raas Mandal, Ardhnareshvar Stuti – that became landmarks of abhinaya in the Kathak field.

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Sitting on the stage, Sunayana presented a world of intense feeling and expression to project the vagaries of fate through a variety of situations that made a lasting emotional impact.

The Times of India

Sunayana, the Kathak exponent, infinitely lithe and gracious, an oriental Georgina Parkinson, summoning vistas of knowing charm with a flick of her wrist…

Financial Times , London

The smooth articulation of the feet, arms and hands and controlled abandon of Sunayana’s whirling turns verged on trancelike ecstasy.

The New York Times

After a few years of training under Guru Pt. Hazarilal, teacher and student fell in love. “It was like we had found each other, and a common dream to establish the Banaras gharana,” says Sunayanaji. After marriage, a thirty-year groundbreaking dance partnership developed that saw the Jankiprasad style regain its lustre and soulful depth.

Over time, Sunayanaji created a niche for herself in the field of Kathak through the intensity of her abhinaya, technical virtuosity and vast, innovative repertoire. The couple premiered compositions – like Sab Din, Surpanakha, Raas Mandal, Ardhnareshvar Stuti – that became landmarks of abhinaya in the Kathak field.

Ban Ke Nacho: My Dance Journey

Sunayanaji has devoted her entire life to the revival, preservation and promotion of an old, rare and unique tradition. After Guruji’s passing in 1992 she has been a pillar of the Jankiprasad Gharana, transmitting its timeless beauty and grace to future generations of dancers and viewers.

Sunayanaji remains hopeful about the future, “if this Gharana survived so much, if it lived for three hundred years, it will go on, it is meant to go on.”

Major Awards

  • Lifetime Achievement Award, ITM (2015)
  • Abhinaya Kala Saraswati by Bala Subramanya Sabha, Madras
  • Padma Shri (2011)
  • Sringar Mani by Sur Singar Sansad, Bombay
  • Maharashtra Gaurav Samman (2004)
  • Nritya Sharda By Pracheen Kala Kendra
  • Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2003)
  • Senior Fellowship, Department of Culture, Government of India
  • Lifetime Achievement Award, ITM (2015)
  • Padma Shri (2011)
  • Maharashtra Gaurav Samman (2004)
  • Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2003)
  • Abhinaya Kala Saraswati by Bala Subramanya Sabha, Madras
  • Sringar Mani by Sur Singar Sansad, Bombay
  • Nritya Sharda By Pracheen Kala Kendra
  • Senior Fellowship, Department of Culture, Government of India
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  • Lifetime Achievement Award, ITM (2015)
  • Padma Shri (2011)
  • Maharashtra Gaurav Samman (2004)
  • Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2003)
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Sunayanaji is Honorary Director of Natawari and heads the Kathak Section of Sangeet and Nartan Shiksha Peeth, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai. She teaches worldwide through workshops and tutoring at Natawari affiliated academies.

She has held workshops in the USA, UK and Europe, and taught ballet company dancers in Italy and Belgium. She was invited to teach in the Dance Department of UCLA.

Learn Kathak

Select Performances

Sunayanaji is a top-grade artist of Doordarshan. Over the past six decades she has performed all over India and more than twenty-five countries abroad. She continues to perform, conduct workshops and lecture-demonstrations.

  • Chinese University and Lingnan University, Hongkong (2017)
  • International Rhythm Festival, Oslo, Norway (1988)
  • International Kathak Conference, San Francisco and Khajuraho (2006)
  • Festival of India in Switzerland (1987)
  • Performance and Workshops at Canary Islands, Spain (2004)
  • The World Peace Conference, Oslo, Norway (1986)
  • ICCR-sponsored tour of Latin American countries - Brazil, Chile, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador (2002)
  • International Conference of Jeunesses Musicales, Liege, Belgium (1981)
  • Celebrations of India’s 50th Independence year in France, Belgium and Switzerland (1997)
  • The Florence Festival, Italy (1981)
  • ICCR sponsored tour in Syria, Doha (Qatar) and Bahrain (1994)
  • Sanskritik Festival, England (1974)
  • Sangeet Natak Akademi, Nritya Mahotsav (1991)
  • Chinese University and Lingnan University, Hongkong (2017)
  • International Kathak Conference, San Francisco and Khajuraho (2006)
  • Performance and Workshops at Canary Islands, Spain (2004)
  • ICCR-sponsored tour of Latin American countries - Brazil, Chile, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador (2002)
  • Celebrations of India’s 50th Independence year in France, Belgium and Switzerland (1997)
  • ICCR sponsored tour in Syria, Doha (Qatar) and Bahrain (1994)
  • Sangeet Natak Akademi, Nritya Mahotsav (1991)
  • International Rhythm Festival, Oslo, Norway (1988)
  • Festival of India in Switzerland (1987)
  • The World Peace Conference, Oslo, Norway (1986)
  • International Conference of Jeunesses Musicales, Liege, Belgium (1981)
  • The Florence Festival, Italy (1981)
  • Sanskritik Festival, England (1974)
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  • Chinese University and Lingnan University, Hongkong (2017)
  • International Kathak Conference, San Francisco and Khajuraho (2006)
  • Performance and Workshops at Canary Islands, Spain (2004)
  • ICCR-sponsored tour of Latin American countries - Brazil, Chile, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador (2002)
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Pandit Hanuman Prasadji

Pt. Hanumanprasad (1872 - 1952) was a court dancer of Maharaja Pratapsingh of Kashmir. Later he was also employed by Maharaja Bhupendra Singh of Patiala, and Maharaja Ganga Singhji of Bikaner. He was also in the court of the King of Nepal for some time. He was renowned for his abhinaya and the ability to transform himself on stage. Legend has him parting crowds just with his gestures.

Late in life he was based in Delhi - a pioneering Kathak teacher whose students included Nirmala and Uma Joshi, Malashri Sen and Reba Vidyarthi (nee Chatterjee). His grandson Naval Kishore taught for many years in New Delhi.

Pandit Gopalji

Pt. Gopalji (187? - 1932) was a Court dancer in Khairagarh, Kapurthala and Kashmir. For some time he was also in the Court of Raja Bhupendra Singhji of Patiala. Pandit Gopal was famous for his angika abhinaya. In a temple or courtyard the audience would sit all around him and watch him expressively use his entire body.

Pandit Gopal settled in Lahore and immensely popularized his dance style all over Punjab and beyond - at times the Jankiprasad Gharana, was referred to as the Punjab, Lahore or Gopalji ka Gharana. His notable disciples included Ashiq Hussain, Meera Baksh, and the famous Patiala court dancers Nawab Putli and Hirabai. Late in life, Pandit Gopalji was blessed with a son - Krishna Kumarji.

Pandit Biharilalji

Pt. Biharilalji (1864-1938) was a handsome and well-built man who performed in many parts of North India. He was fondly called Babuji by artists of his time. He was a Court dancer of Indore, and also performed in the Court of Patiala. Later, he came to Bombay and joined Bal Gandharva's Natak Company as a dancer. Here Ustad Ahmadjan Thirkava was employed as a tabla player and accompanied him.

Biharilalji composed a number of Natawari syllables and was known for his bhava and layakari. He had three sons Kishanlal, Mohanlal and Sohanlal, all dancers. His students included Keshavrao More, Menkabai Belgaonkar and singer Kesarbai Kerkar.

Kumudini Lakhia

The memory of Ashiq Hussain uncovers some of the most pleasant moments of my childhood. It was he who inculcated a love for the Dance in me.

Ashiq Hussain was better known as a very popular film star of his times, but at heart he was a devoted chela of the Janki Prasad, Benares Gharana of Kathak. I remember making a run of the Bombay Film studios, usually sitting on his shoulders. I was also casted as a child dancing star in two of his films.

This was a long time ago. What is more important now is the memory of the Tukras, Parans and Gats which he taught me.

I have been long associated with Kathak since, but the ‘Bols’ of the Janaki Prasad Gharana stand out distinct to those of the ‘Bols’ of the Jaipur and Lucknow Gharanas of Kathak. I came once again in contact with this, very briefly, when I had the opportunity of being assoicated with Shri Krishna Kumar when the Bharatiya Kala Kendra produced ‘Malati-Madhav’ for the Dance Seminar in 1958.

It is indeed a pleasure now to watch Shri Hazarilal and Smt Sunayana Hazarilal as their ‘Padhant’ reminds me once again of those happy moments of a childhood so rich with Dance & Music.

Kumudini Lahkia
‘Kadamb’
School of Kathak Dance
Lakhia Bros.
Lal Darwaja
Ahmedabad 380 006.

Site Credits

PHOTOS
Sunayanaji (orange dress): Avinash Pasricha
Sunayanaji (black-and-white): Sue Jones

Veronica (select portraits): Carolina Echeverría

Neesha (blue dress): Paul Wan
Sri Shakti Academy (Taiwan performance): Danny Chan

Anuradha (select portraits) & Anjali 2021 HK Student Group Portraits: Saurabh Anand – The Artsy Tripod

Maharaja Anup Singh Portrait: Courtesy Anil Relia Collection, Ahmedabad, India

MUSIC
Deepest thanks to our veteran accompanists:

Pandit Kalinath Mishra – Tabla
Somnath Mishra – Vocals
Alka Gujar – Sitar