Sunayana Hazarilal

Sunayana Hazarilal Agarwal is an Indian classical dancer, known for her expertise in the classical dance form of Kathak and reportedly the only surviving practitioner of the Janakiprasad Gharana of Kathak, also known as Banares Gharana. The Government of India honored her in 2011, with the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri.

Biography Sunayana Hazarilal, née Sunayana Agarwal, was born in Mumbai to a Railway officer and started learning classical dance from an early age. Refusing to move out of Mumbai to learn Kathak when her father was transferred elsewhere, she practised under the tutelage of Guru Hazarilal who was a known exponent of the Benaras Jankiprasad Gharana. and heads the Kathak division of the Sangeet and Nartan Shiksha Peeth of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai. She is also a visiting faculty at many other institutions. A recipient of such awards as the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2003), Abhinayan Kala Saraswati from Bala Subramanya Sabha and the Maharashtra Gaurav Award, Sunayana was honored by the Government of India when she was included in the Republic Day Honors in 2011.