Born in a Saraswat Brahmin family[2] on 3 April 1903 in Mangaluru, Karnataka, Kamaladevi was the fourth and youngest daughter of her parents.

Her father, Ananthayya Dhareshwar, was the District Collector of Mangalore, and her mother, Girijabai, from whom she inherited an independent streak, belonged to a land-owning Chitrapur Saraswat brahmana family from coastal Karnataka.

Kamaladevi's paternal grandmother was well-versed in the ancient Indian epics and puranas, and Girijabai was also well-educated, although mostly home-tutored.

Together, their presence in the household gave Kamaladevi a firm grounding and provided benchmarks to respect for her intellect as well as her voice, something that she came to be known for in the future.

Finally, when she was twenty years old, Kamaladevi married Harin, much to the opposition of the orthodox society of the times, which was still heavily against widow marriage.

L[5] Harin and Kamaladevi stayed together to pursue common dreams, which wouldn't have been possible otherwise, and in spite of many difficulties, they were able to work together, to produce plays and skits.

[8] While still in London, Kamaladevi came to know of Mahatma Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement in 1923, and she promptly returned to India, to join the Seva Dal, a Gandhian organisation set up to promote social upliftment.

In 1926, she met the suffragette Margaret E. Cousins, the founder of All India Women's Conference (AIWC), who inspired her to run for the Madras Provincial Legislative Assembly.

During her tenure, she travelled extensively to many European nations and was inspired to initiate several social reform and community welfare programs, and set up educational institutions, run for and by women.

Later in a startling move, Kamaladevi went up to a nearby High Court, and asked a magistrate present there whether he would be interested in buying the "Freedom Salt" she had just prepared.

On 26 January 1930 she gained widespread media attention when in a scuffle, she clung to the Indian tricolour to protect it.

At length Jawahar Lal Nehru reluctantly gave her permission on the condition that she did not ask for state assistance, and so after much struggle, the township of Faridabad was set up, on the outskirts of Delhi, rehabilitating over 50,000 refugees from the Northwest Frontier.

[12] Chattopadhyay chaired the National School of Drama and later headed the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and was also a member of UNESCO.

The Fellowship is the highest award of Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama.