Google Doodle celebrates 97th birthday of Kathak queen Sitara Devi

Google Doodle celebrates the 97th birth anniversary of renowned Kathak dancer Sitara Devi. Described by Rabindranath Tagore as 'Nritya Samragini', the empress of dance, Sitara Devi was born in Kolkata on November 8, 1920.

She belonged to a Brahmin family father Sukhdev Maharaj who was also a Kathak dancer and a scholar of Sanskrit and her mother Matsya Kumar was related to the royal family of Nepal.

Despite facing criticism from his community, Sukhdev Maharaj endlessly encouraged his daughter and Sitara Devi started learning Kathak from a very young age.

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Sitara Devi was bestowed with numerous awards including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1969 and the Padma Shree in 1973. Some of her famous students were Madhubala, Rekha, Mala Sinha and even Kajol to name a few.

Sitara Devi took her last breath on November 25, 2014.