Kelu Charan Mahapatra

Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra is a master and a legend in his chosen field, with a name now synonymous with Odissi dance throughout the world. A Noted Sanskrit poet of India wrote on this Guru thus - 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. Born in a family of chitrakaras or painters, he paints a dancer on to her background. Born in Raghurajpur on August 1, 1925, young Kelucharan loved the jatras, open air roving theatres of Orissa. His father, a khola (drum) player in these theatres, instilled in him the love of rhythm. He was an Indian classical dancer, guru and proponent of Odissi dance, who is credited for the revival of the classical dance form in the 20th century. With the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1966, the title of Padma Shri in January 1972, honorary doctorate in January 1982, the Padma Bhushan and the Kalidas Samman in 1989, Kelucharan was finally on the road to fame, from rolling bidis to becoming a legend in his own time, at home and abroad. A prolific choreographer, Guru Kelucharan worked on some of his masterpieces with Pandit Bhubaneswar Misra as his music composer. Demands for his dances also led to the establishment of training centres in Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. Odissi has finally come into its own, with the creation of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Odissi Research Centre. The Odissi Path Finder guidebook has already been published, both in Oriya and English. Thus Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra’s art has come full circle. Often, the visual artist in him took over, transforming the notations into pure works of art.