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 Guru Smaranam 2025: A soulful tribute to Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra - Dr. Nita Vidyarthi e-mail: nitavidyarthi@gmail.com Photos: Sowmik Banerjee June 16, 2025 Srijan Chhanda under the guidance of its Founder- Director and Principal, Rajib Bhattacharya, distinguished Odissi dancer of the Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra gharana, paid tribute to Guruji on his 21st death anniversary at the Uttam Manch, Kolkata, by dedicating an evening to dance presentations by top dancers Geeta Chandran, Sujata Mohapatra, and Kathak dancer Luna Poddar and her group of Prerna Centre for Performing Arts. The host institution Srijan Chhanda ensemble too honoured the maestro through three of their selective items. The homage commenced with the welcome speech by Arkadev Bhattacharya followed by an inaugural Pushpanjali to the legendary Guru's photograph on the stage, thereafter felicitation of the guests including Odissi Guru Sharmila Biswas. One of the highlights of the evening was the release by the celebrity guests of the book written by Rajib Bhattacharya. The book titled "Dissecting Odissi: A guide" is a detailed insightful and structural guide to Odissi's fundamental concepts and is aimed at offering invaluable academic and practical support to students of Odissi backed up by years of experience and knowledge of a consummate dancer and a devoted practitioner as well as a committed teacher. Rajib Bhattacharya mentioned that he "intends to create a book exclusively on Odissi, highlighting the important issues that students frequently encounter during their exams... In order to alleviate their troubles while also getting in-depth knowledge of the subject, I will provide short answers to the queries in one book". Apparently, the attractive hard-cover jacketed book with 192 pages is handy for its size and affordable. Following the book release were two much awaited memorable and mesmerizing solo performances, one of Odissi and the other Bharatanatyam. Great dancing has always been rewarding from the standpoint of pure optical beauty and its enjoyment, experience proves it is distinctly sharpened by luxuriating in every movement and every posture of the dancer, irrespective of the spectator having trained eyes or being a layman.  Sujata Mohapatra  Geeta Chandran Odissi virtuoso Sujata Mohapatra, trained affectionately by the doyen, has carefully preserved and presented all his teachings with reverence and the evening was no exception. She evoked Guruji's timeless artistry with her rendition of "Manikya Veena" and the Jayadeva ashtapadi "Sakhi Hey". Geeta Chandran featured verses from Kalidas' Ritu Samhara, capturing the flavour of the immortal verses of Vasantha Ritu followed by a striking depiction of Ravana's infatuation on Sita from the Valmiki Ramayana. No wonder that the full house was left spellbound!  Srijan Chhanda ensemble Srijan Chhanda dancers followed next, beginning with a self-choreographed solo mangalacharan "Kasturi tilakam" by Rajib Bhattacharya, an invocation of Lord Krishna penned by Bilva Mangalar. The next item, a group number "Naada bilasa", redefined musical expression in Odissi by replacing the traditional veena by sitar thus creating a fresh yet profound auditory experience. The synergy between dance and music in this piece beautifully illustrated the essence of rhythm and movement. And the Srijan Chhanda dancers proved their training. Another striking performance was the Meera Bhajan, "Hari tum haro" originally choreographed by Guru Sharmila Biswas and later reimagined by Rajib that transported the audience to the divine world of Meerabai's devotion. They concluded with a powerful invocation of the nine appellations of the Mother Goddess in their item 'Nava Durga'.  Rajib Bhattacharya The evening culminated with a fine performance of 'Ashta Nayika' by Luna Poddar and her students from Prerna Centre of Performing Arts, depicting the myriad emotions of the Nayikas from Natya Shastra with expressive sophistication and consummate ease.  Luna Poddar and ensemble (Photo: Arijit Roy) The evening was just not any other display of dance performances but a reminiscence of memories of the teachings, his compositions and contribution to the dance form of a great Guru and man who left a legacy that would remain engraved in the world of dance, at home and abroad. The evening was made possible through the generous support of the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi, Ministry of Culture, Government of India, and sponsors, Shalimar and KC Das.  Dr. Nita Vidyarthi is a veteran critic of performing arts and writes on dance, music and theatre in leading publications. |
