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{{Short description|Indian dancer (1892–1971)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mylapore Gowri Ammal
| birth_name = Gowri Ammal
| alias = Mylapore Gowri Amma
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date text|1892}}
| birth_place = [[Mylapore]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1971|01|22|1892}}
| death_place = [[Chennai]], [[Tamil Nadu]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mylapore Gowri Amma |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100219821?p=emailAywspgMDih8uA&d=/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100219821 |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=Oxford Reference |language=en |doi=10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100219821?p=emailaywspgmdih8ua&d=/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100219821| doi-broken-date=1 July 2025 }}</ref>
| parents =
| spouse =
| children =
| occupation = [[Bharatanatyam]] dancer
| known for =
| awards = [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] (1959)
}}
'''Mylapore Gowri Ammal''' also known as '''Mylapore Gowri Amma''' (1892–1971) was a [[Bharathanatyam]] dancer from [[Mylapore]] India. She was a temple dancer in [[Kapaleeshwarar Temple]] in Mylapore. In 1959, she received the [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] for Bharathanatyam.

==Biography==
Mylapore Gowri Ammal was born in 1892, in a [[Devadasi]] family of [[Mylapore]], [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref name=":2" /> Her mother Doraikannu Ammal was also a dancer. She learned dance from Nelluru Munuswamy Nattuvanar and also from her mother. Born into a family of temple dancers, she was the last person to serve at the [[Kapaleeshwarar Temple]] in Mylapore.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Viswanathan |first=Lakshmi |date=2021-08-26 |title=Gowri Ammal's place in the annals |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/dance/gowri-ammals-place-in-the-annals/article36119198.ece |access-date=2025-01-23 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X |archive-date=2024-04-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240424201514/https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/dance/gowri-ammals-place-in-the-annals/article36119198.ece |url-status=live }}</ref> She lived in a small house given to her by the Kapaleeshwarar temple, until a law was passed banning temple dancing.<ref name=":0" /> Having lost her guardianship and home, she survived the rest of her life by teaching dance.<ref name=":0" />

She died on 22 January 1971.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-01-21 |title=From the Archives (January 22, 1971): Mylapore Gowri Amma |url=https://www.thehindu.com/archives/from-the-archives-january-22-1971-mylapore-gowri-amma/article33627977.ece |access-date=2025-01-23 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X |archive-date=2022-07-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220716100215/https://www.thehindu.com/archives/from-the-archives-january-22-1971-mylapore-gowri-amma/article33627977.ece |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Career==
Gowri Ammal started her dancing career as a temple dancer in [[Kapaleeshwarar Temple]] in Mylapore. Ammal is often referred to as the last devadasi of the Kapaleeshwarar temple.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2023-09-10 |title=There's more to mylai than kapali |url=https://www.dtnext.in/news/city/theres-more-to-mylai-than-kapali-735307 |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=www.dtnext.in |language=en |archive-date=2025-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250123043604/https://www.dtnext.in/news/city/theres-more-to-mylai-than-kapali-735307 |url-status=live }}</ref> She danced for the deity in the temple until the Indian government banned the [[Devadasi]] system in 1947, under the [[Madras Devadasis (Prevention of Dedication) Act]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Triumph of Mylapore Gauri Ammal: A Short Incursion into Dance Genetics {{!}} Taylor & Francis Group |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.1201/9781003121138-14/triumph-mylapore-gauri-ammal-short-incursion-dance-genetics-donovan-roebert |publisher=Taylor & Francis |language=en |doi=10.1201/9781003121138-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210409075905/https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.1201/9781003121138-14/triumph-mylapore-gauri-ammal-short-incursion-dance-genetics-donovan-roebert |archive-date=2021-04-09 |access-date=2025-01-23 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

As part of [[E. Krishna Iyer]]'s efforts to support Bharatanatyam and have it recognised as an art form, and not dismiss it as part of a social reform movement, since it was based on the Devadasi system, in 1932, Gauri Ammal danced at the [[Madras Music Academy]].<ref name=":0" /> Ammal gained fame in 1936 when [[Rukmini Devi Arundale]], her first student approached her to become her Bharatanatyam guru.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Foster |first=S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=re3MCwAAQBAJ&dq=mylapore+gowri+ammal+taught&pg=PA61 |title=Worlding Dance |date=2009-06-10 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-230-23684-4 |language=en}}</ref> Rukmini had come to the Kapaleeshwarar temple to ask her to come to the [[Kalakshetra Foundation|Kalakshetra]], to teach her the subtleties of "abhinaya" (acting).<ref name=":1" />

Gauri Ammal's ''abhinaya'' (acting), ''bhava'' (face expression) and musical talent in the Bharatanatyam performance were widely noted.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Meduri |first=Avanthi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uNYZ1vp-xFIC&dq=mylapore+gowri+amma+invited&pg=PA201 |title=Rukmini Devi Arundale, 1904-1986: A Visionary Architect of Indian Culture and the Performing Arts |date=2005 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishe |isbn=978-81-208-2740-0 |language=en}}</ref> She last performed on a public stage at the Silver Jubilee celebrations of the [[Indian National Congress]] in 1935.<ref name=":0" />

==Notable disciples==
Many notable dancers, including [[Balasaraswati]],<ref name=":0" /> [[Rukmini Devi Arundale]],<ref name=":0" /> [[Sudharani Raghupathy]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Venkatesh |first=Vidya Gowri |date=2017-05-18 |title=Abhinayas that move you to tears |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2017/May/18/abhinayas-that-move-you-to-tears-1605924.html |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=The New Indian Express |language=en |archive-date=2025-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250123113451/https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2017/May/18/abhinayas-that-move-you-to-tears-1605924.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Kalanidhi Narayanan]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sai |first=Veejay |date=2016-02-27 |title=A tribute to Kalaninidhi Narayanan, one of the first modern gurus of 'Abhinayam' |url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/features/tribute-kalaninidhi-narayanan-one-first-modern-gurus-abhinayam-39473 |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=The News Minute |language=en |archive-date=2025-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250123112757/https://www.thenewsminute.com/features/tribute-kalaninidhi-narayanan-one-first-modern-gurus-abhinayam-39473 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Sonal Mansingh]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Sonal Mansingh |url=https://sites.ualberta.ca/~spicm/sonal_mansingh_biography.htm |website=sites.ualberta.ca |publisher=University of Alberta |access-date=2025-01-23 |archive-date=2022-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927102423/https://sites.ualberta.ca/~spicm/sonal_mansingh_biography.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Yamini Krishnamurthy]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Yamini Krishnamurthy: A dancing diva who mesmerised all |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/india/yamini-krishnamurthy-a-dancing-diva-who-mesmerised-all-3136146 |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=Deccan Herald |language=en |archive-date=2024-09-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240916032623/https://www.deccanherald.com/india/yamini-krishnamurthy-a-dancing-diva-who-mesmerised-all-3136146 |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Nirmala Ramachandran]]<ref name="Mylapore">{{cite news |last1=MyTimes |first1=Team |title=MYLAPORE TIMES - Obit: Nirmala Ramachandran |url=https://www.mylaporetimes.com/2011/02/obit-nirmala-ramachandran/ |work=MYLAPORE TIMES |date=25 February 2011}}</ref> were students of Gauri Ammal.

==Awards and honors==
She received the [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] for Bharathanatyam in 1959.<ref name=":2">{{Citation |last=Mahābhāratī |first=Saṅgīt |title=The Oxford Encyclopaedia of the Music of India |date=2011 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195650983.001.0001/acref-9780195650983 |access-date=2025-01-23 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en-US |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195650983.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-565098-3 |archive-date=2023-12-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203005548/https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195650983.001.0001/acref-9780195650983 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> She also received award from [[Madras Music Academy]].<ref name=":0" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gowri Ammal, Mylapore}}
[[Category:1892 births]]
[[Category:1971 deaths]]
[[Category:Bharatanatyam dancers]]
[[Category:Indian female classical dancers]]
[[Category:Indian courtesans]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian dancers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women artists]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]

Mylapore Gowri Ammal - Revision history

JovitaA68626256: created initial data with sources