Kanak Rail. file. , Photo credit: The Hindu
Classical dance legend Kanak Rele passed away on February 22, 2023. Mohiniyattam exponent, who was honored with the Kerala government’s first Guru Gopinath Rashtriya Puraskaram, passed away at the age of 85 in Mumbai.
Born in 1937 to parents Shivdas and Madhuri, Dr. Raile spent her childhood in Shantiniketan, West Bengal. At the age of seven, Dr. Raile was initiated into Kathakali by Guru Karunakar Panicker. Gujarat-born Kanak overcame insurmountable obstacles as an initiate in the male-dominated world of Kathakali. During her training, the pain in her leg at the age of ten was diagnosed as polio. But she overcame it with her dedicated dance practice.
In 1973, Dr. Raile established the Nalanda College of Dance Arts, affiliated to the University of Bombay, offering undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD degrees.
In 2022, Dr. Rayle released the book – Me and my Mohini Attam.
Dr. Raile created another record in 1977 by earning a PhD in dance for the first time in India. His doctoral thesis was titled, ‘Mohini Attam: All Aspects and Spheres of Influence’.
Later in 2013, Dr. Raile was awarded the Padma Bhushan.
Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais condoled the demise and in a condolence message said: “Padma Bhushan Dr Kanak Rele dedicated his entire life to the promotion, dissemination and research of Indian classical dance forms. She was one of the finest exponents of Mohiniyattam and Kathakali. Dr. Raile did seminal work in the field of dance through his Nalanda Dance Research Center and Nalanda Nritya Kala Mahavidyalaya. She trained hundreds of students and brought classical dance closer to the people. In her death, we have lost a great dancer Tapaswini.