Sumitra Charat Ram (17 November 1914 – 8 August 2011) was a noted Indian arts patron, impresario and the founder of Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra (SBKK) established in 1952. She played a key role in the revival of performing arts, especially Kathak, in the post-independence era, for which she received a Padma Shri Award.
She was the wife of industrialist Lala Charat Ram of DCM Shriram Group.
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Early life and background
She was born on Diwali day in 1917 to Raja Jwala Prasad and Rani Bhagyawati in Meerut in United Provinces, now in Uttar Pradesh. Her father was the Chief Engineer of Canals and Irrigation of United Province (U.P). She was the youngest of her five siblings: brothers Dharam Vira, Kanti Vira and Satya Vira, and sisters Yashoda and Sushila.
He elder brother Dharma Vira (1906–2000) joined ICS (1906–2000) and was Cabinet Secretary of the Government of India, as well as a governor of Punjab, West Bengal and Karnataka.
Career
After her marriage to Lala Charat Ram, son of Lala Shri Ram, she gradually became an art patron. In 1947, upon the suggestion of Ravi Shankar, she took a loan of Rs. 10,000 from her father-in-law, and started the Jhankar Committee in Delhi. At the turn of the independence of India, princely states were abolished, which also left a large of number of musicians and dancers without patronage. Thus in the coming years, Jhankar provided patronage to leading musicians and artists of the time by organising musical concerts and dance performances. This included Siddheshwari Devi, Ravi Shankar, Hafiz Ali Khan, Baba Allaudin Khan, Shambhu Maharaj, Sunder Prasad, Birju Maharaj, Durga Lal and Aminuddin Dagar.