Bharatha Vidwan T. P. Kuppiah Pillai

Born in 1895 in Thanjavur to Panchapakesa Nattuvanar, the king of Abhinaya, who wrote the book in tamil, Abhinaya Navaneetham. He spent his childhood mastering the art of bharatha natyam , and lanuguages , sanskrit, telugu and tamil, a scholar par excellance, he was credited to making many a students, great dancers.

Bharatha Vidwan Kuppiah Pillai being honoured by Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India.

Bharatha Vidwan Kuppiah Pillai was the prime architect of Sri Rajarajeswari Bharatha Natya Kala Mandir, regarded today as an institution par excellence for Bharatha Natyam. His " Kamala Chakram", a lotus wheeled compendium depicting the matra -based complex 108 talas, besides the popular 35 ones, is invaluable to all students of music and dance. He was the first Natyacharya to be honoured with the Fellowship of the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi.

Spreading its wings far and wide, the has carved a niche for itself, training a thousand and more students and etching its own path to maintain the rigour and vigour of this art millenair and for preserving and propogating the tenets of Thanjavur style, the sine quo non of which is " aesthetic grace", all this was possible only with the great guidance of bharatha Vidwan Kuppiah Pillai.

Bharatha Vidwan Guru T.P. Kuppiah Pillai receiving the the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, the first by a Nattuvanar, belonging to a the Thanjavur tradition to receive the award.

He was a store house of knowledge linking the past with the future and through his son in law, Guru A. T. Govindraj Pillai and sons, Guru Mahalingam Pillai and Guru Kalyanasundaram, he became the pivotal figure in Sri Rajarajeswari Bharatha Natya Kal Mandir, and his compositions and teaching style is still continued to this date.