THE HIGH PRIESTESS OF INDIAN CULTURE “KAMALADEVI”.

INTRODUCTION:

Today the whole world knows, loves and uses Indian handicrafts. Who is

responsible for this? It was kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya, Who was born on April 3, 1903, in a

Saraswat family of Mangalore. She was the fourth child born to Ananthiah Dhareswar and his

wife Girijabai. She travelled the length and breath of India constantly, trying to help some troupe

of traditional dancers in Manipur and moving to a village near Qutab Minar to help poor families

to do decorations for their living. She was rightly called “the high priestess of Indian culture”.

Her lifelong affair with fine arts, theatre and culture started at her earlier age. She was a legend

of modern India and a social rebel too. Till her last breath she was a very energetic fighter and an

active participator.

HER CHARITABLE FEATURE:

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya’s father was a collector and her mother came

from one of the richest landed families of Karnataka. Though the immediate family itself was

small, the large house was overflowing with dependents and poor boys, who were being

educated by her father at his own expense, as it was common in those days. After her father’s

death she took in charge of the poor and needy children. She met Rabindranath Tagore and

Gandhiji at Shantiniketan in 1932, she said that “Tagore felt that personality can be built through

music, Gandhiji felt that personality is built up through crafts, the use of hands”.

In 1020 Kamaladevi went to Madras with her sister and mother, which

brought a drastic change in her life. She met Harindranath, a poet and writer of great promise, a
scion of a brilliant Bengali family, settled in Hyderabad and married him. She started to act in a

comic skit named “Returned from Abroad”. Gradually both husband and wife planed to start a

nationwide theater movement. Harindranath wrote plays and composed music, Kamaladevi

helped with sets and costumes. He played the hero and she played the heroine. Both of them felt

that drama and the theatre were important social factors to mould the society. Most of their plays

revolved around social problems such as the caste system and untouchability.

KAMALADEVI’S ESTABLISHMENTS:

Kamaladevi played a minor role in the film “Vasantsena”. But she was

interested in theatre and set up the Indian National Theatre in 1945 at Bombay. In 1946 the

International Theatre Institute was set up by UNESCO with its headquarters in Paris,

Kamaladevi organizes the Indian unit later called the Bharatiya Natya Sangh. The most

important work of Kamaladevi was that in order to teach Indians their own heritage, she set up a

Theatre Crafts Museum and organized the first folk drama festival in Delhi in 1946. To study

theatre the Government sent her to U.S.A, U.S.S.R, Hungary Asia and Japan where she watched

puppet shows.

Kamaladevi’s hard work and dedication made her to be elected as chairman

of the “All India Handicrafts Board” in the year 1952. She had to identify theatre crafts,

which included costumes, headgear, jewellery, puppets, masks and musical instruments. Ebrahim

Alkazi, the former Director of the National School of Drama, remembered her climbing six

flights of steps (there was no lift) to attend performance after performance in his theatre in

Bombay. Gandhiji was in Bombay to launch the Satyagaraha sabah, on April 6, 1919. After her
first glimpse of the great man she enrolled herself as a humble volunteer for work at the

Belgaum Congress in 1924 which Gandhiji presided.

Kamaladevi started to spend lot of time in Seva Dal and Central Training

Academy were physical culture such as Lathi, Danda Bhala, Sword and Dagger play,

Suryanamaskara and yogasanas were taught. In 1928 Kamaladevi was elected to the All India

Congress Committee and also the elected Secretary of the Indian Social Conference. Later she

resigned from being the Secretaryship which she meant to be a hurdle and went to Pune, a cente

of nationalistic activity and the venue for the conference on the new educational policies in 1927.

Pune was also a busy centre of women’s education, most of the activities came to be centered on

the Seva Sadan.

Kamaladevi offered her service as a volunteer to do the humblest chores

and took up her post at the railway station on night duty to meet the delegates. She thought that

the All India Women’s Conference will play a key role in the national affairs of the country,

especially in the changing position of Indian women, for about thirty years. This conference

made Kamaladevi meet Sarojini Naidu who gave secretaryship to her. Kamaladevi had contact to

low-income women groups and solved their problems.

Kamaladevi was the first organizer of trade unions in Mangalore district. In

1930 when India began to export cashew nuts the workers were not allowed to use knife but only

fingernails which seemed difficult for the women, Kamala organized a strike in protest and it

was successful then knives were introduced. Moreover we can find patriotism in Kamaladevi that

in 1929 she had attended an International Conference in Berlin, other countries had their own

flags whereas India was huddled under the British Union cannot have a flag. But she said that
India had flag and Indian delegates cut off bits of their saris to make the Indian flag – white,

green and saffron.

HER PATRIOTISM:

The burning issue of the day in 1929 was the fight for “Purna Swaraj”

which meant complete freedom. Kamaladevi spoke at a gathering of five thousand people which

brought freedom in the minds of Indian family. January 26, 1930 was the day for taking the

pledge to work for independence. All turned towards the flagpole on which the Indian flag had

been hoisted but a group of people tried to hoist British flag, Kamaladevi threw her body against

the flagpole and held it tightly with both hands, not minding of the bruises on her hands from

whish blood was soon trickling. Chandra Bhen Johri the real founder of Varna Sena, the monkey

Army, consisting of children trained to carry messages and perform many other tasks that even

adults could not, appreciated the brave deed of Kamaladevi. Gandhiji launched Civil

Disobedience movement on 12th March, 1930 Kamaladevi requested to allow women to take part

in the movement and added that “If women are allowed to join the march, it will give them a

sense of responsibility and dedication” both Kamaladevi and Anartikabai Gokhale were

included in the first batch of law breakers. She auctioned one packet of salt for Rs.500 and later

made Rs.4000 on the eve of the raid on 1 st June, 1930 she was arrested. After her release in 1931

she was given in charge of the Sewak Dal volunteers to train women facing lathis and bullets.

CONCLUSION: Kamaladevi had been a lonely child, grew up into a shy, retiring girl who

hated crowds but fate willed her entire life. All her immovable property and major part of cash

that came with the Magsaysay Award to the Srinivas Malliah Trust for theatre crafts. She died in

Bombay on October 29, 1988. She was eighty five.

Dr.K.Lavanya.M.A.,M.Phil.,Ph.D.,

Head and Organizing Secretary

Feminism, movement for the political, social and educational equality of women with men,

the movement has occurred mainly in Europe and the United States. It has its roots in the

humanism of the 18th century and in the Industrial Revolution. Feminist issues range from access

to employment, education, child care and contraception to equality in the workplace, changing

family roles, and redress for sexual harassment in the workplace and the need for equal political

representation. The history of feminism is the chronological narrative of the movements and

ideologies aimed at equal rights for women. Moat of the western feminist historical assert that all

movement that work to obtain women’s rights should be considered feminist movements.

The position of women in society is the index to the standard of social organization. It is

believed that in ancient India women held very important position superior to men. St.Joseph’s

college of Arts and science for women is the only institution with a view to advancing the cause

of higher education among women at Hosur. It is a challenging aventura that PG department of

English has taken scholarly initiative to organize its first State Level Seminar on “Voice of

Feminism in Contemporary Writing” on 12th February 2016. This is a book of research

articles with different themes on feminism which enables and encourages us about the

contemplation of feminism.

The members of staff in the department of English are in high spirit to receive wise scholars

from different places in Tamil Nadu to the seminar and feel content to similar innovations in the

walk of our career.

Dr.K.Lavanya