V. K. Narayana Menon
Encyclopedia
Dr. V. K. Narayana Menon (Thrissur
Thrissur
This article is about the city in India. For the district, see Thrissur district. For the urban agglomeration area of Thrissur see Thrissur Metropolitan Area...

 Thekke Kurupath Narayana Menon
Menon
Menon is a clan of the Nair community of Kerala and was an honorific hereditary title to be used as an affix to the name and investituted by the Sāmudiri Rāja on certain members of Kiryathil and Akattu Charna classes of Nairs. Menons who belonged to the Kiriyathil were Vassals to the Kings. The...

) (born 1911) was a scholar of classical Indian dance
Classical Indian dance
Indian classical dance is a relatively new umbrella term for various codified art forms rooted in Natya, the sacred Hindu musical theatre styles, whose theory can be traced back to the Natya Shastra of Bharata Muni .- Definitions :...

 and Indian classical music
Indian classical music
The origins of Indian classical music can be found in the Vedas, which are the oldest scriptures in the Hindu tradition. Indian classical music has also been significantly influenced by, or syncretised with, Indian folk music and Persian music. The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music...

. He was one of the prominent art critic of India and a Fellow of the Sangeet Natak Akademi
Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship
The Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, also, Sangeet Natak Akademi Ratna Sadasya is an honour for the performing arts in India...

.

Menon was born in Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

. He started his career as BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 Music program producer. Later he became the Director General of the same. He had held important positions in art institutions and broadcasting centres of India. He was Deputy Director of All India Radio
All India Radio
All India Radio , officially known since 1956 as Akashvani , is the radio broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar Bharati. Established in 1936, it is the sister service of Prasar Bharati's Doordarshan, the national television broadcaster. All India Radio is one of the largest radio networks...

. He was the secretary of Sangeet Natak Akademi
Sangeet Natak Akademi
Sangeet Natak Akademi is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India.-History:...

, New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

- supreme centre for art, music and dance of Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...

. He was the President of National Centre for the Performing Arts
National Centre for the Performing Arts (India)
The National Centre for the Performing Arts , in Mumbai, India was established with a grant of Rs 4 million from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust. This was later supplemented by donations from the corporate sector...

- Bombay etc. During these tenures he promoted various arts and artists immensely.

He was noted for his writings about Classical Indian dance and music. He has written many articles and books on the subject. He was considered as one of the finest Indian art critic. Kerala A profile, Balasaraswati (About the life of great Bharatanatyam
Bharatanatyam
Bharata Natyam or Chadhir Attam, is a classical dance form from the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, practiced predominantly in modern times by women. The dance is usually accompanied by classical Carnatic music...

 dancer Balasaraswati
Balasaraswati
Balasaraswati was a celebrated Indian dancer, and her rendering of Bharatanatyam, a classical dance style, made this style of dancing of south India well known in different parts of India, as also many parts of the world....

), The Communication Revolution, The Language of Music, Development of William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms...

are some of his works. He used to write columns regularly in reputed magazines like Illustrated Weekly of India and newspapers.

Indian government honoured him by the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 1980.

He was married to the daughter of Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...

's brother.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK