Legendary Kathak danseuse Sitara Devi passed away early this morning today at Jaslok Hospital in Mumbai. 94 years old Sitara Devi was admitted to the Hospital few days back. She was on ventilator after her health deteriorated yesterday morning. Three weeks earlier, Sitara Devi was admitted to the Cumballa Hill Hospital and Heart Institute following some abdominal and pancreatic complications and was operated. Post her operation, she seemed to recover, but unfortunately, her ailing body was not able to bear the stress of an operation and her condition deteriorated further.
Sitara devi was born Dhannolakshmi in the family of a kathakar Sukhdev Maharaj in Kolkata in 1920. She became a Kathak legend and is known as a pioneering force in bringing the genre to Bollywood. Sitara Devi impressed Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore with a three-hour solo recital after her family moved to Mumbai. She was honored with prestigious awards like Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Padma Shri and Kalidas Samman.