THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sai Gramam has bagged the Asia Book of Records for giving lessons on ‘kerala nadanam’ - a classical dance form - to transgender students. Founder and executive director of Sri Sathya Sai Orphanage Trust K N Anandakumar and Natanabhooshanam Gayathri Subramanian were honoured with the recognition for giving training to transgender students.
Dance classes were imparted by Sri Sathya Sai Transgenders Free Dance Academy.
Governor Arif Mohammad Khan presented the Asia Book of Records certificate and medal to Anandakumar in a ceremony held at Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. Ace bharatanatyam dancer Gayathri Subramanian was presented the medal for her dedication to teaching transgender students the kerala nadanam.
The free dance classes for transgender students commenced in April 2022 in Ernakulam district.
The debut performance of the students took place on February 6 at Kollur Mookambika temple where six students performed kerala nadanam for the first time.
Sai Gramam is operating three centres of the dance academy in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Chennai and around 56 students (10 in Ernakulam and 20 in Thiruvananthapuram) are being trained.