Smitha Rajan

1. Smitha Rajan Smitha Rajan was born in the year 1969. She is one of the popular Mohiniattam Dancers from Kerala. She is the granddaughter of Shri Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair and Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma, and daughter of Sreedevi Rajan, who is a reputed Mohiniattam Guru. Smitha took her initial training from her mother. Her father, T R Rajappan, died when she was very young. She became a professional dancer at the age of 12. In 1980, Smitha accompanied her grandmother, her mother, and her aunt to popularize Mohiniyattam in India and other countries. She was the leading performer of Kerala Kalalayam from 1979 to 1992. She has assisted her mother, grandmother, and aunt in teaching Mohiniyattam to a number of today's Mohiniyattam performers. In 2014, she received the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award. Today, Smitha lives in St. Louis, Missouri, along with her family, and is running the institution Nrithyakshetra "Temple of Dance" as a branch of the institution Guru Sreedevi Rajan started in Kochi, in association with the parent institution Kerala Kalalayam. She produced as well as appeared in the 2019 documentary on Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma titled "Mother of Mohiniyattam," which was directed by Dr. Vinod Mankara. To know more about Smitha Rajan, Visit the page link