Kelucharan Mohapatra

{{Infobox person

| name = Kelucharan Mohapatra

| image = Kelucharan Mohapatra 2023 stamp of India.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Mohapatra on a 2023 stamp of India

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1926|1|8|df=y}}

| birth_place = Raghurajpur, Puri, Odisha, India

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2004|4|7|1926|1|8|df=y}}

| death_place = Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

| occupation = Indian classical dancer, choreographer

| years_active = 1935–2004

| spouse = Laxmipriya Mohapatra{{usurped|[https://archive.today/20121111010219/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fr/2005/04/15/stories/2005041501680200.htm Remembering the maestro]}} Leela Venkatraman, The Hindu, 15 April 2005.

| children = Ratikant Mohapatra

| awards = Padma Vibhushan

}}

Kelucharan Mohapatra (8 January 1926 – 7 April 2004) was a legendary Indian classical dancer, guru, and exponent of Odissi dance, who is credited with the revival and popularizing of this classical dance form in the 20th century.[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E02E2DF153EF93AA25753C1A9669C8B63&&scp=1&sq=mad%20boy&st=cse DANCE REVIEW; Sculptural And Sensual, It's Odissi] by Anna Kisselgoff, New York Times, 19 October 2000.

He is the first person to receive the Padma Vibhushan from Odisha.{{cite news |url= http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130126/jsp/odisha/story_16487304.jsp#.URDi_GduBtY |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130131182213/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130126/jsp/odisha/story_16487304.jsp#.URDi_GduBtY |url-status= dead |archive-date= 31 January 2013 |title=Sun dreamer gets Padma|first=Shilpi|last=Sampad|work=telegraphindia.com|quote=after late Odissi dancer Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra|access-date=5 February 2013|location=Calcutta, India|date=26 January 2013}}

A noted Sanskrit poet of India writes on this Guru: Saango-paanga-subhangi-laasya-madhuram samteerna-nrutyaarnavam, which translates as – "Each fraction of his dancing body leads to paramount sweetness, through miraculous poses and postures. In fact, Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra crossed the ocean of styles."{{cite web |author=Vanikavi Dr.Manmohan Acharya |url=http://www.srjan.com/guruji.aspx |title=SRJAN, Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Odissi Nrityabasa |publisher=Srjan.com |date=8 January 1926 |access-date=22 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910021257/http://www.srjan.com/GuruKelucharanMohapatra.php |archive-date=10 September 2012 }}

Early life and history

In his youth, Kelucharan Mohapatra performed Gotipua – a traditional dance form of Odisha where young boys dress up as woman to praise Lord Jagannath. Later in his life he did extensive research on Gotipua and Mahari dance, which lead him to restructure Odissi dance. Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra was a master in Percussion instruments – Mardala and Tabla, which clearly resonates in his dance compositions. He was also skilled in the traditional Pattachitra painting.

Kelucharan Mohapatra along with his wife, Laxmipriya Mohapatra, herself a dancer, and their son Ratikant Mohapatra built Srjan in 1993.{{cite web | url=http://www.srjan.com/history_srjan_odissinrityabasa.php | title=History Of Srjan | publisher=Srjan | access-date=3 June 2018 }} Kelucharan Mohapatra was conferred a Doctorate by the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal in 1981.

Disciples

Some notable disciples include

Sanjukta Panigrahi
Kumkum Mohanty
Madhavi Mudgal
Sonal Mansingh
Debi Basu
Protima Bedi
Jhelum Paranjape
Ratikant Mohapatra
Sharmila Biswas
Sujata Mohapatra
Sharon Lowen
Shubhada Varadkar{{cite web | url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/41535/shubhada-varadkar-odissi-dancer/ | title=Meet the Renowned Shubhada Varadkar. She Fought Cancer with Dance. And Won | date=28 February 2016 }}
Daksha Mashruwala.

Awards

File:Birthplace of Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra.JPG, Odisha.]]

File:Statue_of_Padmabhushan_Guru_kelucharan_mohapatra_in_the_Odissi_research_centre,_Bhubaneswar.JPG

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, 1966
Padma Shri, 1974{{cite web|url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2015 |access-date=21 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015 }}
Padma Bhushan, 1988
Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, 1991
Padma Vibhushan, 2000
Kalidas Samman from Madhya Pradesh government

Quotes made by Kelucharan Mohapatra

"Odissi is not a mere dance form to entertain people but to inspire and elevate. I don't actually dance but pray in compassion and the spectators say that this `form' is dancing."{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/fr/2006/04/07/stories/2006040701270300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430131308/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2006/04/07/stories/2006040701270300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 April 2008|title=Glimpses of eternity| location=Chennai, India|work=The Hindu|date=7 April 2006}}
"The real dance must convey the feeling of undivided existence, that a spectator can feel that he is not different from the thing observed".

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20090901075356/http://www.srjan.com/about_guruji.aspx]
[http://specials.rediff.com/news/2004/apr/13sld1.htm Homage to a Guru] at Rediff.com

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