Kathak danseuse Mangala Bhatt passes away in Hyderabad
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award-winning Kathak exponent Mangala Bhatt passed away in Hyderabad on Monday, June 16, due to a brain hemorrhage, said family sources. She was 62. She is survived by husband Raghav Raj Bhatt and son Madhav.
The news was received with shock by the legions of her fans, co-dancers, family and friends who took to social media to share their grief.
Mangala was a familiar face in the nation's cultural circuit as she experimented as well as performed the dance form that she learnt from her master, Pandit Durga Ji of Jaipur Gharana.
Mangala and her husband Raghav Raj Bhatt brought the dance form to Hyderabad by establishing Aakruti Kathak Kendra in 1990 where thousands of students learnt Kathak from the couple.
'It is an immensely sad day for classical dance artistes across the country. Ever smiling and graceful, she ploughed through a rare illness over the last few months with great grit and strength. As recently as two weeks ago, she was immersed in a dance workshop for Spic Macay,' shared dancer Ananda Shankar Jayant on social media.
'Shocking, unbelievable and utterly sad — Kathak dancer and a dear friend, Mangala Bhatt, gone too soon,' shared writer, actor and activist Chandana Chakrabarti.
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