Which dancer held the honour of 'Asthana Nartaki' (resident dancer) of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams?

Explanation

The great dancer Yamini Krishnamurthy was given the honour of "Asthana Nartaki", or resident dancer, of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the trust that manages the famous Sri Venkateswara temple at Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh.

Yamini Krishnamurthy was born in 1940 in Madanapalle, in present-day Andhra Pradesh, and grew up in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu. She trained in Bharatanatyam at Kalakshetra under Rukmini Devi Arundale and later learnt from other great gurus. She also trained in Kuchipudi under masters such as Vedantam Lakshminarayana Sastry and Chinta Krishnamurthy, and she became one of the first dancers to bring Kuchipudi to national and international audiences as a solo form. She also learnt Odissi. She was famous for her fast, energetic and graceful dancing, her striking stage presence and her expressive acting. She performed widely in India and abroad from the late 1950s and became one of the most celebrated classical dancers of her generation. She founded the Yamini School of Dance in New Delhi, where she trained many students. She wrote an autobiography, "A Passion for Dance". She received the Padma Shri (1968), the Padma Bhushan (2001) and the Padma Vibhushan (2016).

The title "Asthana" is used for artists formally attached to a temple or court. The Tirumala temple also honours musicians with the title "Asthana Vidwan", and singers such as M.S. Subbulakshmi have been associated with the temple's devotional music.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Sonal Mansingh is a famous Bharatanatyam and Odissi dancer.
• ✗Padma Subrahmanyam is a Bharatanatyam dancer who created the Bharata Nrithyam style.
• ✗Vyjayanthimala is a Bharatanatyam dancer and film actress.
• ✗None of them held this title.