Smitha Rajan – Renowned Mohiniyattam artist

Smitha Rajan is a renowned Mohiniyattam performer and choreographer who is currently one of the leading artists of this field. She is the granddaughter of legendary artist couple – Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair (Kathakali maestro) and Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma (credited as ‘Mother of Mohiniyattam who revived this art form from extinction). They are her maternal grandparents. Her mother Sreedevi Rajan is also a great Mohiniyattam performer.  

Smitha Rajan belongs to the third generation of performing artists of Mohiniyattam. She grew up in a joint family, with full of artists. She received initial training in Mohiniyattam from her mother Sreedevi Rajan and also her aunt, Kala Vijayan. In fact she received training from an aunt, starting at a tender age of 4. The following year she gave her arangettam at a temple in Trippunithura. She began her professional career at the age of 12 and still associated with the field. She has been performing for Kerala Kalalayam at the age of 14, and it was started by her grandparents and continued it till 1990.

Smitha Rajan – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. Smitha got opportunity to give her arangettam performance in Kathakali alongside her legendary grandfather, for Rukmini Swayamvaram. She enacted the part of Rukmini while Krishnan Nair played Sundara Brahmanan. Apart from Kathakali she also learnt Abhinaya and Mudras from him.

2. Till now she has delivered over 2000 stage performances. She completed 1000 performances before she reached 30.

3. She is a purist who strictly follows Mohiniyattam rules and tradition.

4. She learned Carnatic music from Kalyanasundaram for over 7 years, though she is mostly associated with Mohiniyattam on stage. She started paying more attention to Mohiniyattam during her teens.

5. She currently lives at St. Louis, Missouri and runs Nrithyakshetra – “Temple of Dance”, a child institution of Kerala Kalalayam.

6. Well-known character artist of Malayalam cinema and television, Kalasala Babu is her maternal uncle.