Kelucharan Mohapatra: Master who put Odissi dance on world stage

Kelucharan Mohapatra, who came to be fondly known as Kelu Babu, was born on January 8, 1926 in Raghurajpur, now a heritage village in Odisha famous for its Pattachitra paintings and Gotipua dancers. His father, who played the khol, a traditional percussion instrument, introduced him to the world of percussion at an early age.

In his youth, Mohapatra performed Gotipua— a traditional dance in the praise of Lord Jagannath. Later he did extensive research on Gotipua and Mahari dances, which led him to restructure the Odissi dance form. A multifaceted personality, his mastery in the percussion instruments mardala and tabla resonated in his dance compositions. He was also skilled in Pattachitra painting.

Career
During his youth, Mohapatra underwent a gruelling spell of training in the basics by the masters of Odissi dance, apart from performing as a dancer and drummer. For about 10 years, he was part of an itinerant troupe guided by Guru Mohan Goswami. This stint was instrumental in teaching him acting, mime, singing as well as make-up, stage setting and choreography.

He attended tabla lessons from Harihara Rao. From 1946 to 1952, Mohapatra was a member of the Cuttack-based theatre group named Annapurna. He came into the limelight after a solo dance drama on Devi Bhasmasura that earned accolades and appreciation. His brilliant show as Nataraj under the direction of Guru Pankaj Charan Das established him as a mature soloist. The role of Mohini was rendered by Laxmipriya who later became his wife.

Achievements
In 1953, he joined the Cuttack-based Kala Vikas Kendra which was the first college of music and dance to include a course on Odissi in its curriculum. He taught there for over 15 years. Supported by the Kendra, he conducted research on the folk and tribal dances of Odisha and enriched his repertoire of Odissi dance poses through further study of temple sculptures, especially those found on the Bramheswara, Parshurameswara and Konark temples.

After leaving the Kala Vikas Kendra, he travelled to various Indian cities to teach and spread Odissi dance. He became a regular visiting teacher at the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in Delhi, the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai and for the Padatik Dance Centre in Calcutta (present Kolkata). Soon, he came to be regarded as a master of Indian classical dance and his performances popularised Odissi in India and around the world. For 10 years, Mohapatra was associated with Odissi Research Centre in Bhubaneswar during which he made valuable contributions to codify and systematise the Odissi style. The legendary dancer passed away in Bhubaneswar on April 7, 2004.

Awards
Mohapatra received a number of awards from the government. He was awarded Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1966 and Padma Shree in 1975. In 1981, he was conferred a Doctorate by the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. In 1987, he was awarded the Kalidas Samman instituted by the Madhya Pradesh government. He received the Padma Bhushan in 1988 and the Padma Vibhushan in the year 2000.

Interesting Facts
With more than 200 solo compositions and about 50 dance ballets to his credit, Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra played a monumental role in shaping Odissi dance. He brought Odissi immense popularity.

Many famous classical dancers such as Sanjukta Panigrahi, Kumkum Mohanty, Sonal Mansingh, Priyambada Mohanty, Minati Mishra, Yamini Krishamurthy were trained by him.

Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, along with his wife, founded the Odissi dance school Srjan, a premier training institution, in Bhubaneswar, in 1993. Now run by his son, Ratikant Mohapatra, Srjan aims to preserve and popularise the rich culture of Odissi and to maintain high standards of performance and professionalism. The Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra award was instituted in 1995 to recognise contributions in the field of art. Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra had said, “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.”