Vedantam Satyanarayana Died: Kuchipudi dancer and Padmashree Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma died in a private hospital in Vijayawada early on Friday.The last rites were performed at his native village Kuchipudi with state of honours. AP Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy expressed grief over Sarma's death. In a condolence message, he said Sarma was a Kuchipudi dancer acclaimed all over the world.

Sarma, a famous male exponent of female roles in the Kuchipudi dance tradition, was known for his acts as Satyabhama and Usha.

Born in Kuchipudi village of Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh on 9 September, 1935, Sarma learned Kuchipudi dance from his own family members at an early age and started his career as a stage artist from the age of 12.

He established the Kuchipudi Kalakshetra and was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 1961, Padma Shri award in 1970 and Kalidas Samman in 1981. He also acted in a few Telugu films as a dancer.