Niruththa Tharmakulendran a disciple of Padmasri Adayar K Lakshman, has achieved much in her dance career. She commenced her dancing at the tender age of four and even as a student her creative aptitude was evident in moving dance dramas and colourful stage performances by her own choreography. After fourteen years of intensive and rigorous training she established herself as a reputable dance tea
cher, qualifying from North Ceylon Oriental Music Society (NCOMS) in 1985. To further enhance her dance career, she moved to India and joined the prestigious Fine Arts Academy - Bharathachoodamani. As a senior student there, she took profound training under the world renowned artist, Padmasri Adayar K Lakshman. In Madras she completed her Bachelor of Arts at Queen Mary’s College. She toured all over India with Adayar K Lakshman’s troupe, winning many awards and acclaim for her brilliance. Her performances were not limited to India, but also extended worldwide, with her first performance outside of the South East Asia region being in Switzerland. She later established a dance school, Niruththa Indian Fine Arts, shortly after her arrival in Australia. It is now a successful and well known dance institution, aiming to nurture and train young talents to reach their true potential. In 2003, Niruththa was awarded the title of Natya Rathna (jewel of dance), as well as the Victorian Multicultural Commision Excellence Award for Community Arts. Additionally, Niruththa Tharmakulendran has an expansive aptitude as a lyricist, creating at least 3 varnam pieces and a number of padams and keerthanas, as well as dance dramas, and compositions for other artists and arangetrams.