Malathy G. Menon, Thiruvathira dancer and teacher, who is credited to have re-introduced to society the dance form that was earlier confined to Nair and Namboothiri households, died here on Wednesday. She was 84 years old.
Malathy Teacher, as she was popularly known, had an array of disciples who took the art form to thousands of women in Kerala and Malayali groups beyond the State’s borders. She gave Thiruvathira its mega avatar, with the first performances involving 300 dancers being organised in Alappuzha and at Changampuzha Park in Kochi.
She founded Parvanendu, the Thiruvathira school, after she retired as a Hindi teacher from the Government Higher Secondary School at Panampilly Nagar in 1992.
Born to Mundakkal Damodaran Pillai of Thripunithura and Karthiyayani Amma of Kumabalm, she was initiated into Thiruvathira by her mother. But it was later in life that she took to the art form with a zeal that earned her a number of accolades, including the Folklore Academy Award, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award and Kerala Folklore Academy Fellowship.
Pinnal Thiruvathira is a new form of the dance developed at her school. She entered the Limca Book of Records for her efforts to train and put together a Pinnal Thiruvathira performance of 3,000 women. She also acted in a few films and commercials.
The cremation was held at the Ravipuram crematorium on Thursday. She leaves behind her husband K.N. Govindankutty Menon, daughters Sudha Rani and Usha Rani, and son Jayaprakash.