K. N. Dandayudapani Pillai and her mother Smt. Samanthakamani Palaniandy. Mrs.Chithra Muralidaran started learning Bharatha Natyam at the tender age of five under Guru. Kalaimamani. Ranganayaki Jayaram.

Fifteen years of ardous training have moulded the couple to attain their present emirence.
They are now professional Bharatha Natyam Dancers and Dance Gurus running Dance School "Nrithyakshethra" at Anna Nagar, Purasaiwakkam, and T.Nagar, situated in Chennai-India.

They have groomed a number of artistes and have so far completed more than 95 Arangetrams. Both of them have given several performances in many countries such as USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia and Srilanka etc.,

Notable among Muralidaran's achievements are his mastery over "Nattuvangam" at the age of fifteen and his composition of Pushpanjalis, Alarippus, Jathiswarams, Mallaris, Varnams, Thillanas in allthe 35 Tala, which is unprecedented in the field of Bharatha Natyam. Muralidharan was working in the Tamil Music College as Dance Professor.

The couple are noted for their skill in Choreography and presentations of several dance balletes like Ramayanam, Nammalwar, Thulukka Nachiyar, Silapathigaram, Thirumangai Alwar, Navarasa Shiva Shakthi, Kuraloviyam, Pranavam, Anarkali etc.,

Murali and Chithra were awarded I - Prize in an All India Dance Competition for as many as 4 years. Their talents have been acknowledged by Doordarshan which has recognized them as grade Artistes. In keeping with the present day trend, Muralidaran has composed and released more than 75 volumes of audio CD's under the titles of "Nrithyopasana" and "Salangai Nadham".

They have also released a CD-ROM on "Bharathanatyam - Essence and essentials" in association with Swathi Soft Solutions. Muralidaran is one of the board members of Dr. Alagappa University for Bharatha Natyam online degree course. At present the couple are training nearly 200 students and are this divine art all over the world.

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