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{{Short description|Indian dance teacher (1900–1977)}}
{{Given name hatnote|Chinnammu Amma|Thottassery|lang=Malayali}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Thottassery Chinnammu Amma
| birth_name =
| alias = Thottasseri Chinnammu Amma
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth year|1900}}
| birth_place = [[Pazhayannur]], [[Kingdom of Cochin]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1977|08|04|1900}}
| death_place =
| father =
| mother =
| spouse =
| children =
| occupation = [[Mohiniyattam]] dancer, dance teacher
| known for = Revival of Mohiniyattam, first ever recipient of [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] in Mohiniyattam.
| awards = [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] (1972)
}}
'''Thottassery Chinnammu Amma''' (also spelled as '''Thottasseri Chinnammu Amma''') was a [[Mohiniyattam]] dancer and dance teacher from [[Kerala]], India. She was one of the key figures in the revival of this classical dance, which was almost on the verge of extinction in early 20th century. In 1972, she received first ever [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] in Mohiniyattam.

==Biography==
Thottassery Chinnammu Amma was born in 1900 into a prominent family in [[Pazhayannur]] in present-day [[Thrissur district]] of Kerala.<ref name="Sarvavijnanakosam">{{Cite web |title=ചിന്നമ്മു അമ്മ പഴയന്നൂര്‍ (1900 - 77) |url=http://web-edition.sarvavijnanakosam.gov.in/index.php?title=%E0%B4%9A%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%A8%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%A8%E0%B4%AE%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%AE%E0%B5%81_%E0%B4%85%E0%B4%AE%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%AE_%E0%B4%AA%E0%B4%B4%E0%B4%AF%E0%B4%A8%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%A8%E0%B5%82%E0%B4%B0%E0%B5%8D%E2%80%8D_(1900%C2%A0-%C2%A077) |website=[[Sarvavijnanakosam]]}}</ref> Under the guidance of Parameshwara Bhagavathar, who was in [[Swathi Thirunal]]'s Rajya Sabha, Mohiniyattam dance was taught in Nair homes in [[Palakkad district|Palakkad]] region.<ref name="keralakaumudi">{{Cite web |title=വെറുക്കപ്പെടേണ്ട പേരല്ല കലാമണ്ഡലം സത്യഭാമ, ആ സ്ഥാപനത്തിന് എന്നും അഭിമാനമായ ടീച്ചറെ കുറിച്ചറിയാം |url=https://keralakaumudi.com/news/news-amp.php?id=1272993&u=kalamandalam-sathyabhama-the-senior |access-date=2025-08-11 |website=keralakaumudi.com|language=ml}}</ref> Chinnammu Amma was a member of one of this Nair family.<ref name="keralakaumudi" /> At an early age she became a disciple of the Kalamozhi Krishna Menon, a renowned Mohiniyattam guru, and mastered the Mohiniyattam.<ref name="Sarvavijnanakosam"/> Chinnammu Amma finished her studies at the age of thirteen.<ref name="anoop">{{Cite book |last1=Anoop |first1=K. R. |last2=Kavya|first2=Krishna|last3=Mythili|first3=Maratt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K9NzEQAAQBAJ |title=Mohiniyattam: A Reader (Vol. 2) |date=2025-03-20 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House |isbn=978-93-6853-244-6 |pages=101 |language=en}}</ref> She also studied under [[Guru|gurus]] A. Krishna Panicker of [[Koratty]], near [[Thrissur]] and T. Narayanan Nair.<ref name="SNA" /><ref name="Ragini">{{Cite book |last=Devi |first=Ragini |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KRz5ykKRVAEC |title=Dance Dialects of India |date=1990-01-01 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House |isbn=978-81-208-0674-0 |pages=116 |language=en}}</ref> When she started performing, Krishna Panicker also accompanied her as Nattuvanar.<ref name="Ragini" />

Chinnammu Amma died on August 4, 1977.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Das |first=Durga |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bLEZAAAAYAAJ |title=Eminent Indians who was Who, 1900-1980, Also Annual Diary of Events |date=1985 |publisher=Durga Das Pvt. Limited |pages=74 |language=en}}</ref>

==Career==
Chinnammu Amma was one of the key figure in the revival of the classical dance form [[Mohiniyattam]].<ref name="newindianexpress">{{Cite web |last=B |first=Parvana K. |date=2025-06-27 |title=Mohiniyattam researcher Amith K's 'Tribute to Chinnammu Amma' recital seeks to stir conversations on 'class' and the classical |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2025/Jun/27/mohiniyattam-researcher-amith-ks-tribute-to-chinnammu-amma-recital-seeks-to-stir-conversations-on-class-and-the-classical |access-date=2025-08-10 |website=The New Indian Express |language=en}}</ref> In the early 20th century, Mohiniyattam, the only women's classical dance in Kerala, was almost on the verge of extinction.<ref name="kalamandalam">{{Cite web |title=Maestros of yore – കേരള കലാമണ്ഡലം |url=https://kalamandalam.ac.in/maestros-of-yore/ |access-date=2025-08-10 |language=en}}</ref> When poet [[Vallathol Narayana Menon|Vallathol]] established [[Kerala Kalamandalam]] to revive and preserve performing arts of Kerala, he had difficulty even finding someone to teach Mohiniyattam there.<ref name="kalamandalam" /> He included parts of Mohiniyattam at Kalamandalam along with training in female roles in [[Kathakali]].<ref name="Deshabhimani">{{Cite web |title=ചരിത്രത്തിലെ ചുവട് |url=https://www.deshabhimani.com/kerala/news_72/499941 |access-date=2025-08-11 |website=[[Deshabhimani]] |language=ml }}</ref> But his attempts to revive Mohiniyattam in 1932 and 1937 were unsuccessful.<ref name="Deshabhimani" /> At that time, performing this dance form was considered abhorrent, so there was no one to learn or teach it.<ref name="Sarvavijnanakosam" />

Meanwhile, in 1950, Chinnammu Amma went to Kalamandalam to perform Mohiniyattam on Vallathol's birthday.<ref name="Lemos">{{Cite book |last=Lemos |first=Justine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XWp2EAAAQBAJ |title=Tradition and Transformation in Mohiniyattam Dance: An Ethnographic History |date=2022-06-28 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |isbn=978-1-7936-5072-6 |pages=71 |language=en}}</ref> Seeing this performance, he invited her to teach at Kalamandalam and in 1950, Chinnammu Amma entered there as a Mohiniyattam teacher.<ref name="kalamandalam" /> Chinnammu Amma, who had mastered this dance in her youth but did not continue it later, accepted the position of teacher in the Kalamandalam after much persuasion and requests.<ref name="Sarvavijnanakosam" /> She remembered many things she had learned in her youth and passed them on to her students. Prominent dancers including [[Kalamandalam Satyabhama|Kalamandalam Sathyabhama]], Kalamandalam Chandrika, and [[Kalamandalam Kshemavathy]] were Chinnammu Amma's disciples.<ref name="kalamandalam" /> She retired from there in 1963.<ref name="Lemos" />

During the reformation processes of Mohiniyattam, in the 1950s, Kalamandalam focussed on the classical training of the six basic forms of Mohiniyattam dance, recalled by Chinnammu Amma.<ref name="anoop" /> Her style was characterized by slow diction, soft body movements, and cultured acting.<ref name="Sarvavijnanakosam" /> This later became the Kalamandalam style with minor variations and modifications.<ref name="Sarvavijnanakosam" />

None of the early teachers of Kalamandalam, including Chinnammu Amma, had any sympathy on dancers who sacrificed artistic values for the sake of public popularity.<ref name="chintha">{{Cite web |last= |date=2024-04-02 |title=മോഹിനിയാട്ടം ചരിത്രവഴികളിലൂടെ |url=https://chintha.in/?p=9857 |access-date=2025-08-11 |website=Chintha |publisher=Chintha magazine |language=ml}}</ref> Chinnammu Amma and Kalamandalam Sathyabhama, who was a prominent disciple of her, were teachers who worked hard to nurture this art with its traditional purity and without going solely with public taste.<ref name="chintha" />

==Awards and honors==
In 1972, she received first ever [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] in Mohiniyattam.<ref name="SNA">{{Cite web |title=T. Chinnammu Amma |url=https://www.sangeetnatak.gov.in/public/uploads/awardees/docs/T.%20C.%20Amma.pdf |publisher=[[Sangeet Natak Akademi]] |access-date=2025-08-11 |archive-date=2025-05-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250514120300/https://www.sangeetnatak.gov.in/public/uploads/awardees/docs/T.%20C.%20Amma.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Winners of Kerala}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chinnammu Amma, Thottassery}}

[[Category:Artists from Kerala]]
[[Category:1900 births]]
[[Category:1977 deaths]]
[[Category:Malayali people]]
[[Category:People from Thrissur district]]
[[Category:Mohiniyattam dancers]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]
[[Category:Dancers from Kerala]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian dancers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women artists]]
[[Category:Women artists from Kerala]]
[[Category:Indian female classical dancers]]

Thottassery Chinnammu Amma - Revision history

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