Gopika Varma started learning Mohiniyattam at the age of 10 from Smt. Girija and Smt. Chandrika Kurup, both senior students of Smt. Kalyani Kuttyamma whose student she continued to be for 10 years. Later she specialized in the art form under the able guidance of Smt. Kalyani Kuttyamma herself and her daughter Sreedevi Rajan. She was also fortunate to learn Abhinaya which is the quintessence of Mohiniyattam from Sri. Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair, the doyen of the Kathakali stage.
Presently Gopika is running a Mohiniyattam school named 'Dasya' at Adayar, Chennai.
Gopika has performed extensively at various art festivals, cultural organizations, and temples all over India and she has won laurels abroad when ICCR chose her to represent India. Love for this graceful and gentle dance of soft rhythm has enabled Gopika to transmit through movements and expressions that at times sigh with nostalgia, purity and sanctity which translate as her own personal worship of the Divine.
She is one of the top Mohiniyattam dancers of India.
This particular programme was themed on the “Plight of the Mother”, mother hood and the pain that a mother goes thru in giving birth to her child and the sacrifices that she makes in bringing up the child and all the attended emotions were very well depicted in great details by this accomplished artist in the themed presentation of this programme titled: Janani Jagath Karani.
This was a soul stirring performance given by Gopika Varma.