February 29th is a unique day & this lady who was born on in 1904 was not only unique, but also extraordinary.
She protected our Dharma from treacherous missionaries and her name was #RukminiDevi.
The Christian missionaries and British officials presented
"nautch girls" of Uttara & "devadasis" of Dakshina Bharat as evidence of "harlots, debased erotic culture, slavery to idols and priests" tradition, and Christian missionaries demanded that this must be stopped, launching the "anti-dance movement" in 1892.
The anti-dance camp
accused the dance form as a front for prostitution, while revivalists questioned the constructed colonial histories.
In 1910, the Madras Presidency of the British Empire altogether banned temple dancing.
And then, there were widespread protests across Tamil Nadu, but for couple
Rukmini Devi Neelakanda Sastri (29 February 1904 – 24 February 1986) was an Indian theosophist, dancer and
choreographer of the Bharatanatyam, and she was also an activist for animal rights and welfare & the first woman to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
Rukmini Devi featured in India Today's list of '100 People Who Shaped India'.
She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1956,
Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 1967.
Rukmini like her father got inspired by theosophical society and in 1920 married a Brit, George Arundale.
In 1928, she befriended a Russian Ballet Artist Anna Pavlova & their friendship grew, Rukmini started learning Ballet from one of
Anna's troupe girl and Anna insisted Rukmini to learn Bharatiya Natya instead.
In 1933, at Madras she watched SADHIR, Devadasi style of dance.
Infatuated by what saw, Rukmini started learning from Mylapore Gowri Amma & with the help of Krishna Iyer, she continued her studies
under Meenakshi Sundaramman Pillai.
In 1935, at Golden Jubilee Fest of Theosophical Society Rukmini gave her first performance.
In January 1936, along with George Arundale, Rukmini established #Kalakshetra at Adyar, Chennai.
The forgotten dance form #BharataNatyam was revived
by Rukmini & Krishna Iyer and brought it to Global Attention.
They included Violin, established new kinds of sets, designed temple jewellery accordingly, took enormous pain in reviving Bharatanatyam.
Please remember British had banned due to Christian Missionaries.
(Same bunch of Anti Hindu brigade under Leela Samson showed Jesus's and Bible through Bharatanatyam later, hypocrites)
She approached many famous artisans across fields from priests to musicians to sculptures to painters.
The result was Magical and Magnificent.
Rukmini Devi Arundale brought Ramayana, Mahabharata, Geeta Govinda, Usha Parinaya, Kumara Sambhava, Shabhari Moksha, Seeta Swayamvara ON STAGE.
Rukmini Devi was nominated for Rajyasabha in 1952 again in 1956.
She during her tenure brought Prevention of Cruelties for Animals Act
and under her Chairmanship, was instrumental in bringing Animal Welfare Board in 1962.
Rukmini was also VP of International Union of Veg's from 1955 till her death in 1986.
In 1977, Morarji Desai offered her the post of President of Bharat which Rukmini declined.
The life of a legendary artist & the woman who revived Bharatanatyam came to an end on February 24th 1984 at Chennai. #ForgottenLegends #VANDEMATARAM
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Gandhi moved resolution congratulating Viceroy Irwin & his wife for escaping from bomb attack, by saying he see himself as a trustee of the safety of British lives.
But what about the lives of the Congressmen, or other freedom fighters,
who were required to sacrifice without demur. Many Congressmen opposed the resolution, eg, HD Rajah from Tamil Nadu wondered "What did it matter to them whether the bomb hit the Viceroy or a donkey?'' The resolution won by a narrow margin, 904 in favor and 823 against ''
(later the word "donkey'' was replaced by "any other'')
H D Rajah, a great SC leader from TN and proud Hindu was later sidelined by Congress & Ambedkar, got politically marginalised, this blunder of Congress gave way to EVR, DK.
On the Janma Divas of Brave #SuhasiniGanguly, I write a brief tribute for the woman who was a rare figure in male dominated bastion of revolutionaries.
Born on this day Feb 03 1909 at Bengal, she passed matriculation and joined as a teacher at
Kolkata where she got acquainted with #JugantarParty and by 1929, British came to know about her activities.
She shifted her base to Chandannagar as it was French ruled, the Chittagong Armory Raid was one of the biggest attacks on British & Suhasini with Shashidhar Acharya
disguised themselves as Married Couple & gave shelters for those freedom fighters at her place. On September 01, 1930 British raided her house & in the melee Jiban Ghoshal got killed, Suhasini for the first time got arrested.
In the early part of 19th century, the freedom fighters across India came together & decided to go all out against British.
Abhinav Bharath, Anushilan Samithi & Gadar party were formed to liberate Bharath.
By #Violence, they built
pressure & with Pen, they caught the attention world over.
At this crucial juncture, when Independence was inevitable, the British planned to bring Gandhi to India in early 1915.
How they did? Read on…
The British themselves enhanced his stature among the general public,
which in due course, contributed to his emergence as the Mahatma. On the eve of his return to India in Jan 1915, Gen Smuts, the South African min, told the press: "I am convinced that Gandhi is sincerely anxious to come to a fair settlement, and his power while it lasts, is an