[4] Meenakshi Chitharanjan was born in Chennai, in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu to P. Sabanayagam, a government official, as the youngest and only girl child among his five children.
[1] Soon, she moved to Delhi when her father was transferred to the Indian capital, but continued her dance studies under Subbaraya Pillai by visiting Chennai during holidays.
[3] She returned to dancing after a chance meeting with Srinivasa Pillai, a percussionist who had played mridangam as an accompaniment to her in her younger days.
[7] In 1991, she started Kaladiksha, a dance school for teaching Bharatanatyam which has since grown to hold around 100 students at a time and is known to be striving to preserve the Pandanallur bani.
[8] She received the title Natya Choodamani of Sri Krishna Gana Sabha and, Kalaimamani Award of the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1975.