Kuchipudi, a classical dance, originated in which state?

The correct answer is Andhra Pradesh. Kuchipudi is the classical dance of Andhra Pradesh. It takes its name from the village of Kuchipudi, in the Krishna district of the state, where it developed as a dance-drama tradition.

According to tradition, Kuchipudi was given its form in the 17th century by Siddhendra Yogi, a Vaishnava poet and saint. He wrote the famous dance-drama Bhama Kalapam, about Satyabhama, the proud wife of Lord Krishna, and taught it to the young Brahmin boys of the village of Kuchipudi. The families of the village took a vow to perform it as an offering to Krishna, and the tradition was passed down through generations. In the beginning, Kuchipudi was performed only by men, called Bhagavatulu, who also played the female roles, in all-night dance-drama performances. In the 20th century, gurus such as Vedantam Lakshminarayana Sastry and Vempati Chinna Satyam developed it into a solo form, performed by both women and men, and brought it to the national and international stage.

Kuchipudi is unique in combining speech (or song by the dancers), mime and pure dance. It includes all three elements of classical dance: nritta (pure dance), nritya (expressive dance) and natya (drama). Its best-known element is the Tarangam, in which the dancer balances on the rim of a brass plate, sometimes with a pot of water on the head. Other famous items include the Manduka Shabdam (the story of a frog). Kuchipudi is accompanied by Carnatic music, and its songs are mostly in Telugu. Famous Kuchipudi dancers include Vempati Chinna Satyam, Yamini Krishnamurthy, Raja and Radha Reddy, and Shobha Naidu.

About the other options:

• Tamil Nadu's classical dance is Bharatanatyam.
• Karnataka does not have its own classical dance in the Sangeet Natak Akademi's list, but it is known for Yakshagana.
• Odisha's classical dance is Odissi.