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2026-01-12T04:18:12Z

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{{Short description|Indian choreographer and singer (1913–1999)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2018}}

{{Infobox person
| name = K. P. Kittappa Pillai
| birth_date = {{birth date text|5 May 1913}}
| death_date = {{death-date and age|1999|5 May 1913}}
| father = K. Ponniah Pillai
}}

'''K. P. Kittappa Pillai''' (5 May 1913 – 1999) was the son of [[Sangeetha Kalanidhi|Sangita Kalanidhi]] K. Ponniah Pillai (1888–1945), a scion of the famous [[Tanjore Quartet]], codifiers of the [[Bharatanatyam]] format.<ref>{{cite book |title=When Men Dance:Choreographing Masculinities Across Borders: Choreographing Masculinities Across Borders |url=https://archive.org/details/whenmendancechor00fish_669 |url-access=limited |author-link=Jennifer Fisher (dance academic) |last=Fisher |first=Jennifer |author2=Anthony Shay |author2-link=Anthony Shay |page=[https://archive.org/details/whenmendancechor00fish_669/page/n389 379] |year=2009 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780195386707 }}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Kittappa Pillai was born into a [[Isai Vellalar|nattuvanar]] family and was the fifth generation descendant of Sivanandam, one of the [[Thanjavur Quartet]], and the grandson of the legendary Meenakshisundaram Pillai.<ref>https://issuu.com/carnaticmusic/docs/vaak_03/s/12162013</ref> Kittappa Pillai began his career as a vocalist having been trained by his own father, K. Ponniah Pillai and flourished in that sphere for some time. As a direct disciple of his maternal grandfather, the veteran Nattuvanar Pandanallur Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, Kittappa Pillai established himself as a versatile Nattuvanar during the major part of his career.<ref>{{cite web | title=The Path | url=https://www.narthakinataraj.com/the-path-1.html }}</ref> His father K. Ponniah Pillai, born 1888, should not be confused with his more famous namesake ancestor who was born in 1804.

==Tanjore Quartet heritage==
The Quartet's heritage, preserved and expanded by the next eight generations of this family, remains the richest resource for traditional performers of the form to this day. Guru Kittappa Pillai himself was a brilliant musician, teacher and choreographer and revived many rare pieces of the original Tanjavur repertoire, producing the first annotated versions in the 1950s,<ref>{{cite book |title=Unfinished Gestures: Devadasis, Memory, and Modernity in South India |url=https://archive.org/details/unfinishedgestur00sone |url-access=limited |last=Soneji |first=Davesh |page=[https://archive.org/details/unfinishedgestur00sone/page/n261 247] |year=2012 |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |isbn=9780226768090 }}</ref> including the Sarabhendra Bhupala Kuravanji and the Navasandhi Kavituvams.<ref>{{cite book |title=Performing pasts: reinventing the arts in modern South India |author-link=Indira Viswanathan Peterson |last=Peterson |first=Indira Viswanathan |author2=Devesh Soneji |page=86 |year=2008 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780195690842 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Independent India: the first fifty years |last=Karlekar |first=Hiranmay |page=395 |year=1998 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780195647785 }}</ref>

He trained several students in India and from abroad, some of whom became prominent performers of the Thanjavur tradition. He was the great-great-grandson of one of the [[Thanjavur Quartet]]s (Sivanandam).<ref>{{cite web | title=Biography of Bharatanatyam Dancer and Vocalist K.P. Kittappa Pillai – raaggiri | url=https://raaggiri.com/artist-biography/biography-of-bharatanatyam-dancer-and-vocalist-k-p-kittappa-pillai/ }}</ref>

==Awards and recognitions==
Kittappa Pillai was associated as a faculty member in Tamizh Isai College and at [[Annamalai University]].

He was honoured with several awards and titles during his lifetime which include:
* [[Sangeetha Nataka Academy]] Award (1974)
* Sangita Kala Acharya, (Music Academy, 1981)
* Isai Perarignar (Tamizh Isai Sangam, 1985)
* Kala Tilakam (Karnataka State Award, 1986)
* [[Kalidas Samman]] from Govt. of Madhya Pradesh
* Fellowship of the Central [[Sangeetha Nataka Academy]] (1999)<ref>{{cite news |title=Latest General Knowledge |work=Competition Science Vision |date=December 1999 |page=1262 |issn=0974-6412 |publisher=[[Pratiyogita Darpan]] }}</ref>

==Works==
Kittappa Pillai has published works relating to the repertoire of his illustrious ancestors, the Tanjore Quartet. These include Ponniah Mani Malai, Thanjai Natya Isaikaruvoolam, Adi Bharatakala Manjari, Javalis of Chinnayya and Gana Kala Swarabhushani (along with his younger brother veena vidwan Sri K. P. Sivanandam). Among his other noteworthy contributions to the field of [[Bharathanatyam|Bharatanatyam]], are several rare dance compositions of the Quartet set to dance and Marathi compositions of Shahji Maharaja of Thanjavur in [[Bharathanatyam|Bharatanatyam]] format.<ref>{{cite web | title=Biography of Bharatanatyam Dancer and Vocalist K.P. Kittappa Pillai – raaggiri | url=https://raaggiri.com/artist-biography/biography-of-bharatanatyam-dancer-and-vocalist-k-p-kittappa-pillai/ }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*https://archive.today/20130704043711/http://kittappanatyalaya.org/

{{SangeetNatakAkademiFellowship}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pillai, K. P. Kitappa}}
[[Category:1913 births]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]
[[Category:Bharatanatyam dancers]]
[[Category:Indian choreographers]]
[[Category:Tamil singers]]
[[Category:Singers from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian singers]]
[[Category:People from Thanjavur]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]

K. P. Kittappa Pillai - Revision history

MUKESH SINGH: Created.