Kalākshetra

Notes

Ashish Mohan Khokar wrote this history of Kalākshetra:

At the Annual Convention of the Theosophical Society in 1940, George Arundale, its President, declared: "Today it is a humble cottage, this Kalakshetra, but in due course we shall have buildings, beautiful, simple structures created by our own hands, the Temple to India's glory. It is a cottage today; it will be a community tomorrow."

Rukmini married George Arundale and it was meeting of east and west at its best.

Kalakshetra was at Adyar and both were interlinked. For the first thirteen years, the institution was on Theosophical Society's land at Adyar, but in 1948, Kalakshetra received an eviction notice from the Theosophical Society. This was a shock (!) to say the least. The reason ascribed in the notice (a copy of which is in the Mohan Khokar Dance Archives given by Rukmini Devi herself) was that the dance and music activities were alien to the tenets of Theosophical Society and thus they could not host the institution.

Kalakshetra had been formed when George Arundale was President of the Theosophical Society. Rukmini Devi was appointed the President of Kalakshetra and James Cousins as Vice President, George Arundale and C Jinarajadasa as Patrons. At the inauguration, among those who spoke was Jinarajadasa who said, "Today we are starting an organisation for the arts. It is surely a logical development of our work. Indeed this is a lovely event today, that in this Theosophical Society we have realised so fully the need of art. I hope the academy (Kalakshetra) will give us the inspiration we all need, so that we will understand better our work and better our ideals of Theosophy."

Why then did the Theosophical Society so unceremoniously and suddenly evict Kalakshetra? After George Arundale died in August of 1945, C.Jinarajadasa came to be elected President of the Society. He and his confreres soon started having second thoughts about Kalakshetra. The feeling was born, and nursed, that its pursuits were not quite consistent with the objectives of the Society. The showdown came towards 1949 when Kalakshetra was directed to quit the Adyar campus by the middle of 1953.

It would seem Rukmini Devi, as early as 1945, had some lurking feelings or premonition of the contretemps. For, in that year, fearing that in coming years Kalakshetra may expand and the Theosophical Society may not be able to provide additional space, she started buying pockets of land nearby. The place chosen was a neighbouring village called Thiruvanmiyur. Land was cheap, around Rs.300 per acre and over the years a great deal came to be acquired, though only in patches, when available. The institution we all see today and have in the last 60 years, stands on part of that patch.

In 1952, came another surprise turn! C Jinarajadasa's term finished and in his place came to be elected N Sri Ram, a brother of Rukmini, who wished Kalakshetra returned to its original setting and moorings in Adyar and agreed to extend lease for 15 years but Rukmini Devi rightly refused. Such was the strength and suffering of this great woman, whom many worship today. December 30 has another interesting twist: Mohan Khokar, Kalakshetra's first male student, Rukmini Devi's pet, and not only my illustrious father but father-figure of Indian dance heritage and history, was born that day.