Dr. Darshini Manjunath

गुरुर्ब्रह्मा ग्रुरुर्विष्णुः गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः । 

गुरुः साक्षात् परं ब्रह्म तस्मै श्री गुरवे नमः ॥

Bharathanatyam :

 Kalabhushini Guru.Smt.Darshini Manjunath

Guru.Smt..Darshini Manjunath, Founder-Director of Nritya Disha Trust, Bangalore (NDT) is  a remarkable choreographer ,teacher and performer in the sphere of Indian Classical Bharathanatyam field.A true asset  to the Tanjore style of Bharathanatyam ,She is a degree holder in Choreography and holds Master’s in Bharatanatyam from Bangalore University , currently perusing Ph.D at REVA University.

Smt.Darshini, senior disciple of Karnataka Kala Tilaka Late.Guru.Smt.Padmini Rao ,is also been mentored and guided by Karnataka Kalashree Smt. Vasanthalakshmi.

She started her initial training under Karnataka Kalashree Guru.Smt.Sudha Murthy of Challakere and  Shivaprakash and Nandhini Shivaprakash of Chitradurga.

She feels she is fortunate to have got guidance of Kathak exponent Guru.Dr.Maya Rao also.Her abhinaya has been further guided by Padma Bhushana Dr.Sonal Mansingh and Smt.Rama Vaidhyanathan, fortunate to learn from Legend Padma Bhushana Dr.Padma Subramanyam.

She has been interviewed in Doordarshan Chandana - Shubhoadaya Karnataka - live show ,one of the special kind of program.

Her abilities were recognized and has been bestowed with numerous awards such as

“NADA GOWDA KEMPEGOWDA” award from ward no 119,(BBMP,Government of Karnataka)

“KALABHUSHINI” from Natya Nikethana ,Challakere,

“NRUTYA MAYURI” and “SUVARNA KARNATAKA KALASHREE” by  Garden City Cultural Academy,

“PRAJABHUSINI” from Asha Kiran Trust, Bangalore ,

“KARNATAKA SHRESTA RATNA” by Janamana Trust,

“NRUTYA NIPUNE” by Deva Devi Kalanikethana Bangalore and

“HAMSA VIVEKA RATNA” award by Hamsajyothi , Bangalore.

She is a choreographer ,who has many dance drama’s to her credit. Mainly “Divine Lord Krishna”, “Krishnam Onde Jagath Gurum”, “Dashavataram”, “Om Kara” , “Kannada tayege Nritya Namana”, “Karnataka Vaibhava”, “Karunadha Hireme”, “Buddha Charitha”, “Shakthi Swarupini”, “ Navarasa Krishna”  have always kept audience spell bound.

Darshini has travelled extensively in India and abroad, performing solo and with her  NDT troupe and  has enthralled audiences throughout the globe.She has performed  as a delegate from Government of Karnataka to perform at 6th AKKA World Kannada conference 2010 held at New Jersey, USA ,1st Europe Vishwa Kannada Sammelana at London, Dubai Rajyotsava Dasara Utsava,Durgotsava, Hampi Utsava, Janapada Jatre,75th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana-Chitradurga,2nd Vishwa Kannada Sammelana-Belgaum, Naadaneeranjanam at Tirumala,TIRUPATHI to mention a few.

NRITYA seve at Stinivasa sanidhi at Tirumala was a Devine experience for life.

Darshini and NDT has left a  remarkable space through their performance , Mandhura Madhura ve Manjula Gana- DD chandana is one of them.

As a serious pursuer of Bharathanatyam she has accompanied her  Guru Padmini Rao in various lecture-demonstrations,dance productions and has even  assisted during Vidwath Grade Text book preparation of Karnataka Secondary Board.

 Authored Articles:

 Decoding Rangapravesha in 21 St  century for REVA RESEARCH CONCLAVE 2018 held at REVA UNIVERSITY , Bangalore

Rangapravesha WAS and Is an article co-authored with Proof. Dr. Vasanth Kiran and Darshini

A Journey Of Artistic Step  an article presented to Maharaja Sayaji Rao University Baroda.

She has published many research articles on prestigious magazines and newspapers