23-548: Kalakshetra Foundation , formerly simply Kalakshetra , is an arts and cultural academy dedicated to the preservation of traditional values in Indian art and crafts, especially in the field of Bharatanatyam dance and Gandharvaveda music. Based in Chennai , India , the academy was founded in January 1936 by Rukmini Devi Arundale and her husband George Arundale . Under Arundale's guidance,
46-475: A 17-year-old girl by a gang of men outside a pub in Guwahati on 9 July 2012. NCW member Alka Lamba was accused of leaking the name of the minor victim to the media, and was subsequently removed from the fact-finding committee, though she remains a member of the commission. The following week, NCW chairperson Mamta Sharma made comments suggesting that women "be careful how you dress", which invited criticism that she
69-488: A number of years. Padman was exonerated following an internal investigation, and Kalakshetra Foundation issued a gag order preventing students and staff from discussing the allegations. On 21 March 2023, the National Commission for Women began investigating the allegations, but closed the investigation shortly, after a victim denied any sexual harassment during an enquiry. On 30 March, the students began protests against
92-462: A voice for their issues and concerns. The subjects of their campaigns have included dowry , politics, religion, equal representation for women in jobs, and the exploitation of women for labour. They have also discussed police abuses against women. The commission regularly publishes a monthly newsletter, Rashtra Mahila , in both Hindi and English. In December 2006 and January 2007, the NCW found itself at
115-538: Is taken, especially during election periods - Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav reportedly made several sexist comments in 2010 regarding the Women's Reservation Bill . Furthermore, at an election rally during the 2014 elections , he stated that "Boys are boys, they make mistakes, why hand them for rape." His remarks were heavily criticized and despite complaints to the Election Commission and NCW, no action
138-499: The Pandanallur style for three years, in 1936 Rukmini Devi Arundale started working on developing her own, Kalakshetra, style of Bharatanatyam . She introduced group performances and staged various Bharatanatyam-based ballets. The Kalakshetra style is noted for its angular, straight, ballet-like kinesthetics, and its avoidance of Recakas and of the uninhibited throw (Ksepa) of the limbs. According to Sankara Menon (1907–2007), who
161-505: The Hindu right-wing Sri Ram Sena on eight women in a bar in Mangalore in late January 2009. Video from the attack shows the women were punched, pulled by their hair, and thrown out of the pub. NCW member Nirmala Venkatesh was sent to assess the situation, and said in an interview that the pub did not have adequate security and that the women should have protected themselves. Venkatesh said, "If
184-810: The Kalakshetra Foundation, was established by Rukmini Devi Arundale , along with her husband, George Arundale , a well-known theosophist , in Adyar , Chennai, in 1936. She invited not only the best students but also noted teachers, musicians and artists to be a part of this institution. In 1944, the University of Madras granted its affiliation for conducting diploma courses in Music, Dance and Painting & Crafts. Year-long celebrations, including lectures, seminars and festivals marked her 100th birth anniversary, on 29 February 2004, at Kalakshetra and elsewhere in many parts of
207-534: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.132 via cp1112 cp1112, Varnish XID 397413153 Upstream caches: cp1112 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 05:51:12 GMT National Commission for Women The National Commission for Women ( NCW ) is a statutory body of the Government of India , generally concerned with advising
230-464: The adulterous man because women, she believes, are never offenders. They are always the victims. The NCW has demanded that women should not be punished for adultery, as a woman is "the victim and not an offender" in such cases. They have also advocated the amendment of Section 198 of the CrPC to allow women to file complaints against unfaithful husbands and prosecute them for their promiscuous behaviour. This
253-464: The center of a minor controversy over its insistence that Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code not be changed to make adulterous wives equally prosecutable by their husbands. But the grounds on which Ms. Vyas resists the logic of making this a criminal offence — particularly for women, as often recommended — are not as encouraging. She is averse to holding the adulterous woman equally culpable as
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#1732859472085276-459: The girls feel they were not doing anything wrong why are they afraid to come forward and give a statement?" On 6 February, the NCW said they decided not to accept Venkatesh's report but would not be sending a new team to Mangalore. On 27 February, the Prime Minister's Office approved the removal of Nirmala Venkatesh on disciplinary grounds. The NCW came under fire again after the molestation of
299-536: The government on all policy matters affecting women. It was established on 31 January 1992 under the provisions of the Indian Constitution , as defined in the 1990 National Commission for Women Act. The first head of the commission was Jayanti Patnaik . As of 19 October 2024, Vijaya Kishore Rahatkar is the chairperson. The objective of the NCW is to represent the rights of women in India and to provide
322-593: The inaction of the Kalakshetra authorities, by walking out of a routine morning prayer when Padman walked in. The protests prompted a response from the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin , after which an FIR was registered against Padman by the Tamil Nadu police. The Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women also launched an investigation and received over 90 written complaints regarding various issues faced by
345-559: The institution achieved national and international recognition for its unique style and perfectionism. In 1962, Kalakshetra moved to a new 40-hectre campus in Besant Nagar , Chennai. In January 1994, an Act of the Parliament of India recognised the Kalakshetra Foundation as an " Institute of National Importance ." The current Chairman of Kalakshetra is S. Ramadorai and the current director is Revathi Ramachandran. Kalakshetra, later known as
368-899: The students of the foundation. Padman was arrested by the Tamil Nadu police on 3 April 2023. In response, Padman's wife Divya Hari Padman filed a counter complaint against the victim and two teachers working in the institute. Amidst the sexual harassment allegations, students also raised complaints about mismanagement by the foundation director Revathi Ramachandran, referring to the coverup of a food poisoning outbreak in November 2021. Notable alumni include Radha Burnier , Amala Akkineni , Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay , Sanjukta Panigrahi , C.V. Chandrasekhar , Dhananjayans , Adyar K. Lakshman , Jayashree Narayanan , Kalakshetra Vilasini , Leela Samson , Satyavati Motiram Sirsat , Jaya Thyagarajan , Devoleena Bhattacharjee , and Ananda Shankar Jayant . Indian art Too Many Requests If you report this error to
391-529: The world. Also on 29 February, a photo exhibition on her life opened at the Lalit Kala Gallery in New Delhi, and President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam released a photo-biography, written and compiled by Sunil Kothari , with a foreword by former president Ramaswamy Venkataraman . In 2016, marking its 80th year, the Kalakshetra Foundation held a 'Remembering Rukmini Devi’ festival of music and dance. Having studied
414-486: Was guilty of victim blaming . The controversy led activists to call for a restructuring of the commission. In 2021, the NCW was once again criticized for engaging in victim blaming following the gang rape and murder of a woman in Badaun , Uttar Pradesh. A two-member delegation from the NCW was sent to the site of the incident to meet with the victim's family and prepare a fact-finding report. NCW member Chandramukhi Devi, who
437-596: Was her associate from Kalakshetra's beginnings, Rukmini Devi raised Bharatanatyam to a puritan art form, divorced from its recently controversial past by "removing objectionable elements" (mostly, the Sringara , certain emotional elements evocative of the erotic, such as hip, neck, lip and chest movements) from the Pandanallur style , which was publicly criticized by Indian dancer Tanjore Balasaraswati (1918–1984) and other representatives of Tamil Nadu 's traditional Isai Velalar culture. Love outside parameters considered "chaste"
460-468: Was in response to "loopholes" in the Indian Penal Code that allowed men to file adultery charges against other men who have engaged in illicit relations but did not allow women to file charges against their husbands. The Commission has also worked to guarantee women security in unconventional relationships. The NCW came under sharp criticism for their response to the attack by forty male members of
483-467: Was not there before". In December 2022, allegations of sexual abuse in the campus began to surface after former director Leela Samson wrote a social media post accusing a teacher of harassing and molesting students, but hadn't specified the name of the teacher. In the following months, over a hundred students of Kalakshetra Foundation's Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts accused senior faculty member, Hari Padman, of sexual harassment. The accusations spanned
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#1732859472085506-457: Was not to be portrayed. Balasaraswati said that "the effort to purify Bharatanatyam through the introduction of novel ideas is like putting a gloss on burnished gold or painting the lotus". Lawyer and classical artist E. Krishna Iyer (1897–1968) said about Rukmini Devi, "There is no need to say that before she entered the field, the art was dead and gone or that it saw a renaissance only when she started to dance or that she created anything new that
529-687: Was part of the delegation, stated to the press that part of the blame for the incident lay with the victim, as she had chosen to visit the temple late in the evening. Devi stated, "A woman should not go out at odd hours under the influence of somebody. I think if she had not gone out in the evening, or had some child along with her, this could have been prevented." The comments attracted wide criticism on social media, as well as from celebrities. Following public criticism, Devi withdrew her remarks. The NCW has faced flak for inaction against political leaders for insensitive comments against women, especially on serious matters like rape. Despite complaints, no action
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