In which year was the National Institute of Kathak Dance established?

Correct — D. The National Institute of Kathak Dance, better known as Kathak Kendra, was established in 1964. It stands in New Delhi as a constituent unit of the Sangeet Natak Akademi.

It grew out of something older - the Kathak wing of the Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra, set up in 1955 - and 1964 is the year that wing became a national institute under the Akademi.

Alongside Kathak it teaches Hindustani classical vocal, pakhawaj and tabla.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  1961 — 1961 falls between the 1955 wing and the 1964 institute. The Akademi dates the Kendra's establishment to 1964, not to any step in between.
• (b)
  1969 — 1969 is five years late. Kathak Kendra was already running as the Akademi's national institute for Kathak by then.
• (c)
  1954 — 1954 predates even the Kathak wing of the Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra, which was set up in 1955. The institute cannot be older than the wing it grew from.

The Sangeet Natak Akademi is India's national academy for music, dance and drama, under the Ministry of Culture.

It works partly through constituent units - Kathak Kendra, the Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy and Rabindra Rangshala - and partly through centres for particular forms, such as the Sattriya, Kutiyattam and Chhau Kendras.

Kathak Kendra is the training institution for Kathak, the north Indian classical dance whose gharanas are Lucknow, Jaipur and Banaras.

Key facts

• Kathak Kendra, the National Institute of Kathak Dance, is a constituent unit of the Sangeet Natak Akademi and is situated in New Delhi.
• It was established in 1964, having begun in 1955 as the Kathak wing of the Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra.
• Besides Kathak it offers courses in Hindustani classical vocal music, pakhawaj and tabla.
• The Akademi's other constituent units are the Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy and Rabindra Rangshala.

Common traps

• Taking 1955, the year of the Kathak wing, as the year of the institute.
• Confusing Kathak Kendra's founding year with the Sangeet Natak Akademi's own.
• Reading National Institute of Kathak Dance as a separate body from Kathak Kendra. They are the same institution under two names.

No directly related past PYQ was found.