Kapila Vatsyayan

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(25 Dec 1928 — 16 Sept 2020)

A life that enriched the world of arts in myriad ways, art scholar Kapila Vatsyayan wore many hats. A redoubtable author, an erudite scholar, an able administrator and a dancer in her own time, her journey may have started when government patronage towards arts was unheard of. Yet she not only patronised arts at a personal level, working with luminaries like Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Indira Gandhi but also later helmed major institutions. The founding director of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, she was also chairperson of the Asia Project at the India International Centre.

The recipient of Padma Vibushan and former Member of Parliament, she leaves behind a treasure-trove of wisdom and knowledge with her book likeBharata: The Natyasastra,Traditions of Indian Folk Dance, Classical Indian Dance in Literature and the ArtsandThe Square and Circle of the Indian Arts. The archives she built at IGNCA are as enviable a collection as her insightful life had been. Much ahead of her time, she was a true scholar of ancient Indian culture and civilisation.