Sitara Devi
Noted Kathak dancer Sitara Devi died in Mumbai on TuesdayIANS

Eminent Kathak danseuse Sitara Devi, who was on ventilator, passed away on Tuesday, her son-in-law confirmed. She was 94.

Devi was initially admitted to Cumballa Hill Hospital and Heart Institute, but was shifted to Jaslok Hospital in Mumbai after her health deteriorated.

"She is no more," Rajesh Mishra, her son-in-law told IANS.

The funeral of the eminent Kathak danseuse will be held on Thursday morning, Mishra said.

"Her funeral will take place Thursday morning. We are waiting for her son who has gone abroad for a show," Mishra told IANS.

She is survived by a son and a daughter.

Devi is a recipient of prestigious awards like Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Padma Shri and Kalidas Samman. She was born as Dhannolakshmi in the family of Brahmin 'kathakar' Sukhdev Maharaj in Kolkata in 1920.

When she turned 11, the family moved to Mumbai, where she impressed Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore with a three-hour solo recital.

Over the next six decades, she became a Kathak legend and is known as a pioneering force in bringing the genre to Bollywood.

(With Agency Inputs)