Birju Maharaj: Kathak’s living legend & multifaceted genius

This leading kathak dance exponent inherited the classical dance form and left on it his own indelible imprint. Apart from having taken kathak across the world, the multifaceted artiste was also a choreographer and singer of semi-classical forms like the thumri, dadra, bhajan and ghazal.

Brijmohan Mishra, widely known by the nickname Pandit Birju Maharaj, was born on February 4, 1938, in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, in a family of renowned kathak dancers.

His father, Jagannath Maharaj, popularly known as Acchan Maharaj of the Lucknow Gharana, was the court dancer in the Raigarh princely state and descendant of the legendary Maharaj family of kathak dancers.

He fell in love with the art of dancing at a young age and began performing as a child alongside his father, whom he idolised. He often travelled with his father who performed at musical gatherings in cities and towns such as Kanpur, Allahabad, Gorakhpur, Jaunpur, Dehradun, Madhubani, Kolkata and Mumbai.

Tragedy befell the family with his beloved father, Acchan Maharaj, passing away when Birju was just nine years old. Then he began training with his uncles, the well-known dance masters Shambhu and Lacchu Maharaj. Soon, he developed a unique style of his own, blending elements learnt from his father as well as uncles. It is believed that he inherited the precision of footwork and the play of the face and neck from his father, and the stylised fluidity of movement from his uncles.

Career
Thanks to the fact that dance ran in his genes, as well as the hard work he had put in, even at the tender age of 13, he had achieved enough mastery in kathak to begin teaching the dance form at the Sangeet Bharti in New Delhi. As a dance teacher, he believed in continually learning new things. For him, classical dance is one of the ways to connect with the divine. He believed that a dancer who also sings and has sound knowledge of musical instruments would greatly enrich his art. Meditation and yoga also help dancers develop breath control, strength and stamina.

As a renowned choreographer too, Birju Maharaj had worked in films. He provided vocals for dance sequences in the film Shatranj ke Khiladi directed by the stalwart Satyajit Ray. Birju Maharaj also choreographed a song for the film Devdas directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

The renowned dancer is also an accomplished singer known for the renditions of thumri and dadra, that are semi-classical vocal music forms and for being adept at playing the tabla and violin.

Popularising dance
Apart from being the leading exponent of the Lucknow Kalka-Bindadin gharana of Kathak, Birju Maharaj is also the founder of the dance school Kalashram in Delhi. He uses traditional parameters to choreograph new presentations which convey to the audience that even classical style can be very appealing, interesting and dignified.

Awards
He was honoured with Padma Vibhushan in 1986. He received the coveted Sangeet Natak Akademi Award as well as Kalidas Samman. In 2002, he was honoured with the Lata Mangeshkar Puraskaar.

Personal life
Birju Maharaj is the father of five children, three of them daughters. Among them, Mamta Maharaj, Deepak Maharaj and Jai Kishan Maharaj are also noted Kathak dancers.

Interesting Facts
Having toured extensively around the globe, Birju Maharaj has given countless number of performances and held workshops for the students of kathak.

He won the National Film Award for the Vishwaroopam. He was awarded the Sangam Kala Award, Andhra Ratna, Soviet Land Nehru Award and the Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award.

Not many people know that the kathak maestro also had a great interest and knowledge about cars. He once said that had his dance skills gone unnoticed, he would have pursued a career as a mechanic.

A descendant of a legendary family of kathak dancers, who included his late uncles Shambhu Maharaj and Lachhu Maharaj as well as his father and guru Acchan Maharaj. After working with Shambhu Maharaj at the Bhartiya Kala Kendra and later on at the Kathak Kendra in New Delhi, he headed the latter institute for several years till he retired in 1998. He then opened his own dance school, Kalashram, which is also located in Delhi.