KOLKATA: Renowned dancer Amala Shankar, wife of legendary dancer Uday Shankar, passed away on Friday at the age of 101. Her family members said she was suffering from age-related ailments for the past few days.
A sister-in-law of the late musician and composer Ravi Shankar who died in 2012, she was the mother of the late musician Ananda Shankar and actress Mamata Shankar.
In a condolence message, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee described Amala Shankar’s death as an "irreparable loss" to the world of dance.
On her Twitter handle, Sreenanda Shankar, the granddaughter of Amala Shankar, wrote, "Today my Thamma (grandmother) left us at the age of 101. We just celebrated her birthday last month. Feeling so restless that there is no flight from Mumbai to Kolkata. Heartbroken. May her soul rest in peace. This is an end of an era. Love you Thamma. Thank you everything."
Born as Amala Nandy in 1919 at Jessore in present-day Bangladesh, she was one of those who broke the social norm of restricting Indian women to perform on public stages during those days. With encouragement from her businessman father, Amala Shankar learned dancing in the 1930s and met Uday Shankar, who made Indian fusion dance popular across the world, at the International Colonial Exhibition in Paris when she was 11-year-old.
Amala Shankar’s historic journey began after she joined Uday Shankar’s dance troop and started performing across the world.
Amala won many recognitions and prestigious awards for her extraordinary feat in the field of dancing. In 1991, she was conferred the Padma Bhushan.
She was also accorded with Banga Vibhushan by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in 2011 for her contributions to the art.
Several of Amala Shankar’s disciples and admirers said her death brought an end to an era.
(With agency inputs)