After five years of being in love, French bharatanatyam dancer Paris Lakshmi and noted Kathakali artist Pallipuram Sunil tied the knot on Friday according to the Hindu tradition at the Mahadeva Temple here.
Sunil first met Lakshmi in 1999 during a Kathakali programme at Fort Kochi. She was then an eight-year-old girl. Their relationship started in 2007, after Lakshmi approached Sunil to learn Kathakali. Last February, their marriage was registered at a sub-registrar office here.
“We were waiting for her father Quinio Yves, mother Patricia and brother Narayanan to join us to conduct the wedding in a traditional way. Lakshmi had converted to Hinduism a year ago. We intend to stay at my house in Vaikom Thekkenada, near Ashram School. We are planning to start a Kathakali and Bharatanatyam training centre in Vaikom,” Sunil told Express on Friday.
Lakshmi’s father Yves said that he had started visiting India nearly 30 years ago, and got attracted to Indian culture, dance and music. “Out of my love for Indian art, I named my daughter Lakshmi and son Narayanan. She started learning bharatanatyam at the age of nine and later received training at the dance school of Padma Subramaniam in Chennai. My wife Patricia is a sculptor, and she too is interested in Indian art,” said Yves, a drama artiste from Provence, France. He added that he and Sunil have long-standing acquaintance and were happy when Lakshmi expressed her wish to marry him.
She assumed the name ‘Paris Lakshmi’ after becoming popular after performing in several dance programmes in India and becoming popular. She has applied for Indian citizenship and is expected to get it by February 2013. Her brother Narayanan is getting trained in Mridangam at a music school in Chennai.