Santhosh Kumar Thamang, Bharatanatyam dancer and Founder of Shree Narayani Natyalaya, began learning the classical art form from Late Sri. T.K. Narayan, Founder – Director ‘Academy of Bharatanatyam’. Narayan was the Retd. Principal of Government College of Music and Dance, Hyderabad, and a direct disciple of Pandanallur Sri. Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai and Kaattumannar Koil Sri. Muthukumara Pillai. He also learnt under Late Smt. Jayalakshmi Narayan, co-founder ‘Academy of Bharatanatyam’.
While pursuing MFA from University of Hyderabad, Santhosh Kumar Thamang learnt dance from Guru Pasumarthy Ramalinga Sastry. When he moved to Kolkata, he learned Tamil Padams from Guru Viji Mami from 2001-2003 and Carnatic Music from Smt. Kamakshi Bala Subrahmanyam. During workshops and visit to Chennai, he learnt under Padma Bhushan Sri. C.V Chandrashekhar – Director ‘Nithyashree’.
Three students – Kum. Ananya Krishna on September 30, 2017 at HCU; Smt. Lavanya Harish at CCRT, Madhapur, March 17, 2019; and Kum. Sumedha Sanjeev at Shilpakalavedika, Hi-tech City, on Sept. 29, 2019 – performed their Arangetram, since Shree Narayani Natyalaya was established in 2012. Students of the Academy have performed at various cultural and religious festivals in the city. Santhosh Kumar Thamang has been bestowed with Nataraja Natya Nandi Award in December 2020 and Swarna Bhairava Award at Srisailam temple in March 2021.
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