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 Parijat III - A tribute to Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra- Tapati Chowdhuriee-mail: tapatichow@yahoo.co.in Photo credit: Rashbehari Das March 23, 2026 Parijat III held on 20th February 2026 at Birla Sabhaghar was a tribute to Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra on his centenary birth anniversary. Parijat is a heavenly flower whose fragrance captivates the Gods in Nandankanan. When Guru Sutapa Talukdar choreographed 'Parijat', she intended to create each dance piece in such a beautiful way that every dance piece was like a petal of the Parijat flower. Four or five dance pieces formed the petals of this Parijat flower. After two successful such blossoms, this was the third blossom of Guru Talukdar's Parijat. Talukdar's school Gurukul was established in 1987. The foundation stone was laid down by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, who named the institute Gurukul. Gurukul follows the legacy of Guru Mohapatra's teachings and carries forward his heritage. But heritage cannot be stagnant. It is like a river where drops of water keep adding. Talukdar has taken this heritage and added her own choreography. Gurukul has always been appreciative of the larger cultural milieu. They had with them two excellent dancers who have created ripples in their respective dance spaces. They are Nandini Ghoshal and Samrat Dutta. For 12 years now, Gurukul has been engaged in community activities. They have trained many students from the underprivileged society, many of whom have bloomed into expert dancers, skilled teachers and busy professionals, leaving a bright mark on society. In fact, some of them were on stage that evening with the repertory members of Gurukul. After offering flowers to Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, Talukdar felicitated Prabir Mitra, former President of Gurukul and chief legal advisor of the RP Sanjiv Goenka group. The evening of dance commenced with Ramapada Bhajana, a four part homage to Lord Rama's lotus feet. First part is the story of Lord Vishnu and the coming of river Ganga. Lord Vishnu once approached Bali Maharaja, while the King was performing a sacrifice. The Lord appeared before him as Trivikrama, or Vamana, and begged alms from the King in the form of three steps of land. With two steps, Lord Vamana covered all three planetary systems and pierced the covering of the universe with the toes of his left foot. A few drops of water from the Causal Ocean leaked through this hole and fell on the head of Lord Shiva, where they remained for one thousand millenniums. These drops of water are the sacred Ganges River that cleanses and purifies the soul of all. In the second part, we saw Bharata, the brother of Lord Rama, dutifully ruling Ayodhya on behalf of the Lord. His love for the Lord is displayed by his reverence to the padukas of Lord Rama, which represents his presence. The third part is the story of Lord Rama and Ahalya. Ahalya, the wife of Sage Gautam, was a woman of exceptional beauty. Moved by her beauty, Indra, the king of the heavens, was infatuated with her. Overcome by desire, he disguised himself as Sage Gautam and became intimate with her. When the sage became aware of this deception, he cursed Ahalya and turned her into stone. Lord Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu, reached the ashram where Ahalya lay cursed. By the touch of Lord Rama's feet, Ahalya's curse was lifted and she regained her human form. In the last part, boatman Kevat washed the feet of Rama, placed his hands on earth and ask the Lord to first step on his hand before stepping into the boat. This way he washed away all his sins by having touched the Lord's feet. Ramapada Bhajana was in raga Jhinjhoti and tala Triputa. Vocalists Minati Bhanja, Partha Desican and pakhawaj player Banamali Maharana performed to the music composition of Ramesh Das. Choreography by Sutapa Talukdar was incredible. The dancers performed the piece commendably.  Ramapada Bhajana  Nandini Ghosal "Aajo mu dekhili ghyanashyama ku go" - a dance composition by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra in raag Bilhari and taal Ektali by Nandini Ghoshal was an abhinaya piece. The Oriya song speaks of Radha seeing Krishna in a new light. Her description of Krishna to her sakhi is a curious longing to see him. The next piece, Mukhari Pallavi, a pure dance item was presented by the senior dancers of Gurukul in taal Jyoti. This item was initially choreographed by Kelubabu for Sanjukta Panigrahi. The music composed by Pt. Raghunath Panigrahi, was gifted to Sutapa, which she later composed as a group dance presentation.  Mukhari Pallavi A Shiva Vandana followed soon after, which according to legend was sung by Ravana in praise of Shiva before going into battle with Shri Rama. It was Ananda Tandava replete with the description of the Lord. Playing the damaru and horn, Lord Shiva created a majestic picture. "May this wondrous Shiva bless us all and bring peace and happiness to all mankind" was the message. It was performed beautifully by Sabarnik De.  Sabarnik De  Sutapa Talukdar  Samrat Dutta Bharatanatyam dancer Samrat Dutta performed brilliantly and was highly appreciated by the dance aficionados.  Mita Basanta In "Mita Basanta" presented by Gurukul, the nayika searches for her lover to announce that spring has finally arrived. Nature celebrates a festival of colours with its many hued blooms spreading its sweet fragrance, with the song of the cuckoo adding to its beauty. The dance of the gopis, Radha and Krishna full of sringara rasa made the evening. Mita Basanta was in raga Basant, taal Ektali and Khemta, music was by Ramahari Das. "Samudita Madane," Gurukul's last presentation of the evening was from the Gita Govinda to Guru Mohapatra's choreography and was performed as a tribute to the maestro. Dancers Sabarnik De, Ishani Boral, Oishanee Bhattacharjee, Srijoni Nandi, Priyosmita Podder, Souvik Kumar Modak, Chirasree Bhandari, Sandhini Sengupta, Anjistha Mallik, Anouska Majumder, Madhuparna Chakraborty and Subhabrata Chatterjee proved to be excellently trained.  Tapati Chowdhurie trained under Guru Gopinath in Madras and was briefly with International Centre for Kathakali in New Delhi. Presently, she is a freelance writer on the performing arts. She is the author of 'Guru Gopinath: The Making of a Legend.' |
