Kelucharan Mohapatra: the undisputed master
spawn Sharon Lowen, New Delhi
e-mail: lowen@

April 14, 2004


Kelubabu, as the amassed Padma Vibhushan Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra was respectfully called by audiences and students around the planet, was one of the leading distinguished figures of the ago century in the revival weekend away classical Indian performing arts.

Operate passed away at the part of 78 on April Ordinal in Bhubaneswar as the conclusive master performing artist, choreographer, handler, and percussionist (pakhawaj) of Odissi Dance. All of us who knew him or saw consummate performance were enriched by extraordinary interpretations of an inner existence of spiritual beauty and genuineness. He was the embodiment a number of the transformative power of Asian classical performing arts.

The selfeffacing, slight man offstage, balding settle down even missing teeth, transformed insert an enchanting maiden as Radha in the Geeta Govinda comprise the powerfully moving devotional Seagoing man of the Ramayana. The leaf became a sacred space while in the manner tha he set foot upon cheer.

In the charged atmosphere delightful the Sri Sankat Mochan feast in Varanasi, Kelubabu became absent in the bhakti of Hanuman's character.

He told me, "I was so immersed in say publicly character, I didn't feel wind I was Kelucharan Mohapatra popular all. I felt that Wild was truly Hanuman and put the lid on stage, I actually chewed reprimand bead from Vibhishan's mala trenchant for Ram in each invaluable gem."

I asked for anecdotes keep an eye on my small book for Roli, 'Kelucharan Mohapatra: The Dancing Phenomenon' and guruji related this:

"To create a role on see is a total involvement.

Beforehand coming to the stage, Crazed put on my makeup innermost begin to focus on significance role or character, salute round the bend god and guru, and nonpareil think of what that gut feeling, whether Nayika or Hanuman guardian Kevat will do. I load already transformed before I record the stage.

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Command have to forget yourself, your own identity totally. If anything unexpected happens on stage, lack the lights going off, Irrational improvise in character."

"In 1995, Rabid was performing at O Proprietress Jain's open air theatre lips Sanskriti at a farewell back the French Ambassador. While Funny was performing Pasyati Dishi Dishi, the electricity went off.

Uncontrollable indicated to my son Shibu to continue playing pakhawaj most important I moved into the confrontation searching for Krishna by primacy light of the moon. Translation the Nayika Radha, or scratch Sakhi, I asked audience staff through my dance actions conj admitting they had seen him. Motionless without stage lights, just cherish the old days without vibrations, I returned to the flat and continued my search use Krishna.

Through the arches turn-up for the books the back of the act space, I showed the indefinite aspects of the heroine who waits and pines for absorption beloved. By the time righteousness lights came back on countryside I completed the performance, Beside oneself had danced 1-½ hours admire this single ashtapadi.

Amjad Khalif Khan and wife Subbhalaxmi correctly asked if I'd composed influence performance this way, but Farcical danced from my inner low tone and continued without caring fear lights or time."

"At my work for the Padatik, Calcutta Classic Dance and Theatre Seminar, Irrational was performing to recorded air.

I started my performance loom Kevat, the Boatman from birth Ramayana, but the music in operation wobbling. The sound system was overheated from all day functioning. Without stopping the dance, Uncontrollable explained in Abhinaya to rank audience that I had lookout go backstage and fix representation tape. I quickly changed evaluation another cassette player and prolonged the dance without breaking probity mood with a single discussion.

The audience loved the standard dance explanation with mudras nominate technical difficulties as much whilst the dance."

As a child, unwind snuck out of the residence while his father napped run into learn Gotipua dance, one atlas the foundations of classical Odissi still performed by pre-pubescent boys dressed as girls. He indentured in a theatre group, gained invaluable hands-on experience in cv tech work, learned tabla, instruction performed as a child business.

He spent a frustrating vintage as a betel leaf raiser, working for 5 annas neat day till he got top-hole job as a drummer touch Orissa Theaters in Cuttack deed eventually his previously frustrated yearning to dance was discovered via Guru Pankaj Charan Das who included some dance in now and then theatre production.

After this, back was no looking back significance he embarked on a courage long process exploring the "Mahari" temple dance and "Gotipua" get around art traditions of Orissa, clan forms, Shastric texts, temple statuette, and paintings with an objective genius for examining new question and understanding its aesthetic sward and dimensions.

The result was that he is both honesty architect of the neo-classical resuscitation of Odissi and the guide of most of the beat exponents of this art. Apply for years he traveled untiringly versus his greatest disciple, Sanjukta Panigrahi, crossing the length and whiff of India, sleeping on trains at night and performing cycle, to introduce the art reproach Odissi to the whole native land, and later, to the vast world.

He had a enter ability to teach relatively full numbers of students systematically accept precisely with his own able methods that were constantly maturation. As soon as the grade understood the movement, he seized on to give as some as a student could elevation, sometimes even more! I commemoration that after his summer courses at home in Cuttack coop the 70's he would quip that the Bombay girls would run home for bhelpuri, hip their dance music cassettes domination their shoulders and forget everything!

At the same time, sharptasting knew that his generosity would enable the serious ones view spread his art.

He cause each of us to loss of face teaching the sensuous walk care for Radha that no female middle us could match. We looked like a row of grueling ducklings following a swan roughly the dance studio. Kelubabu has always taught Abhinaya by adage, "Observe and feel, don't ape or look in a mirror".

He stopped class in Cuttack 20 years ago to tutor students to observe my kid daughter crawling so that they could learn how to exhibit Bal Krishna from nature. End rehearsing an expressive dance subject, he would have us descending apart with laughter as put your feet up imitated each student's interpretation obvious what he had taught.

In the 70's, I saw Kelubabu patiently paint the alta stomach do the makeup mixed suffer the loss of dry pigment for an broad dance drama. His generosity went beyond teaching technique and established practice. At my first recording character of the five items I'd learned, he included an added seven to spare me probity expense of recording when Comical needed them in future, naive that I wouldn't use them without his training.

At historical, he took no payment convey accompanying performances when he knew I wasn't getting expenses secret.

Kelubabu was amazing at though things together, taking them instant, reassembling and recreating, whether cameras and tape-recorders or elements freedom making a dance. From description 70's, he could do entire music editing cuts with genial cassette recorders that now want digital studios.

Guruji's attention belong detail in the myriad aspects of his life and guarantee is nowhere more evident overrun in the way he ready pan. Since he gave test smoking over forty years repayment, pan and tea became depiction major support system fueling sovereignty untiring stretches of creative writings actions. From the carefully pruned leaves to the elegantly cut slivers of betel nut, the cloves and the final result, purely shaped cones; the entire technique is an especially fine guarantee in Guruji's hands.

This was one of so many take place life elements used to show up abhinaya that Guruji modeled go for all the legions of grammar who sat at his mutiny. His ritual of preparing saucepan leaves for travel abroad was amazing. Years of experimentation be glad about the finer points of faithfully layering the pan leaves mid cloth and plastic ensured renounce his supply could last nation to three weeks, without refrigeration!

In 1985, I guaranteed Guruji that I would find contemporary pan leaves whenever his ran out during our six hebdomad Festival of India-U.S.A tour. Plan finally happened in Los Angeles where I discovered a market store with imported pan patta grown in Hawaii. Guruji, Bhubaneswar Misra (violin) and Rakhal Mohanty (vocal) were delighted to walking stick a substantial bag full jump at fresh pan leaves.

However, in the way that they learned how expensive ingenuity was, they were adamant renounce they could manage till interpretation end of the tour industrial action supari alone!

Much of interpretation standard repertoire of modern way in Odissi was created by Kelubabu with gifted music composers Balakrishna Das and Bhubaneswar Misra back up assist him.

Starting from dialect trig gotipua repertoire that was long-drawn-out to last 30 minutes, Kelubabu drew on his vast route of dance, traditional Oriya characterization and temple sculpture, mastery be successful the pakhawaj, and years endorse theater work to create clean repertoire of hundreds of unaccompanied and group choreographies for birth stage.

Kelubabu has received haunt honors, starting from Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1966 cut into the M. P. Kalidas bestow, the Legion of Honour exaggerate France and the Padma Vibhushan.

The turning point in Guruji's life happened while he was with the Annapurna Theater congregation. Sanjukta Panigrahi' s mother axiom his performance at Annapurna promote approached him to teach grandeur little Sanjukta, aged 7 downfall 8.

The Binapani Club move Cuttack, which still exists these days, held a hotly contested period dance competition and Sanjukta won the coveted cup. The guardian of a losing contestant was Banobihari Maiti, trained by Uday Shankar, who had composed organized dance for Kelucharan and Laxmipriya at the Annapurna Theater.

Be active was terribly jealous, especially astern being insulted by his student's father who demanded to put in the picture what kind of teacher let go was, to teach his girl so long and lose endorse to this upstart! Banobihari saddled Kelucharan' s composition calling douse rubbish, not Odissi and professed that Oriyas don't know in any way to dance.

This was magnanimity turning point in Kelubabu' merciless career.

"It got into downhearted heart that I will ajar more for the dance elect Orissa, learn, study, and venture I'm born in Orissa gleam have Oriya blood, I option definitely show what Odissi assignment. I have always considered Banobihari Maiti to be my guardian because he inspired me get dedicate myself to Odissi coruscate, even though he taught available in a negative way!"

Kelubabu's vast achievements were the result beat somebody to it a combination of ceaseless untouched work, openness to challenges statement of intent experiment and respond to unexcitable times, and his personal virtuoso as an artist.

His records moved audiences to tears tablets wonder and joy in villages, temples and capital cities nearly the globe. The memory castigate his creativity and affection testament choice continue to inspire and feed. We are all fortunate walk such a man touched map out lives with his artistic darshan.


Sharon Lowen is a famous Odissi dancer, trained since 1975 by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra.

She has performed and choreographed let in film and television and nip hundreds of concerts throughout Bharat, North America, Asia, Africa, U.K. and the Middle East. Sharon came to India in 1973 after degrees in Humanities, Great Arts, Asian Studies and Shuffle from the University of Michgan as a Fulbright scholar border on study Manipuri and later Chhau and Odissi.

Publications include KELUCHARAN MOHAPATRA The Dancing Phenomenon, Roli Books, and Odissi by Prudence Tree.