Kelu Charan Mahapatra

🪔 About

Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra (1926-2004) was a legendary Indian classical dancer, guru, and exponent of Odissi dance, widely credited with the revival and popularization of this classical dance form in the 20th century. Born on January 8, 1926, in Raghurajpur, Puri, Odisha, to a family of Pattachitra painters, his early life was steeped in the arts. He began his artistic journey performing Gotipua, a traditional dance form where young boys dress as women to praise Lord Jagannath. He received training in Gotipua from Balabhadra Sahu and Guru Sri Mohan Sundar Goswami, and also mastered percussion instruments like Mardala and Tabla. Mohapatra's career saw him join Kavichandra Kali Chandra Pattnaik's Annapurna Theatre in Cuttack, where he honed his skills in acting, singing, dancing, stagecraft, make-up, and choreography, and also played percussion. A pivotal moment was his performance as "Nataraja" in the dance-drama "Devi Bhasmasura," which brought him into the limelight. In 1953, he joined the Kala Vikas Kendra in Cuttack, the first college to include Odissi in its curriculum, where he taught for fifteen years, researching Gotipua and Mahari traditions and studying temple sculptures and Natya Shastra. He is celebrated for restructuring Odissi, developing its 20 basic steps (Chowka and Tribhangi), and choreographing over 100 pieces, including pallavis, Abhinaya, and Astapadis from the Gita Govinda. In 1993, along with his wife Laxmipriya Mohapatra and son Ratikant Mohapatra, he founded Srjan (Srjan Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Odissi Nrityabasa) in Bhubaneswar, an institution dedicated to imparting training and preserving the Odissi tradition. His teaching legacy is immense, having trained numerous renowned dancers who continue to propagate his style globally. He passed away on April 7, 2004, in Bhubaneswar. Awards & Honours: Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1966), Padma Shri (1972), Doctorate (Honoris Causa) (1981), Kalidas Samman (1987), Padma Bhushan (1988), Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (1991), Srimanta Sankardeva Award (1997), Padma Vibhushan (2000), Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja Samman (2000).