Guru
Kelucharan Mahapatra is a master and a legend in his
chosen field, with a name now synonymous with Orissi
dance throughout the world. Born in a family of
citrakaras or painters, he paints a dancer on to her
background. Born in Raghurajpur on August 1, 1925,
young Kelucharan loved the jatras, open air roving
theatres of Orissa. His father, a khola (drum) player
in these theatres, instilled in him the love of
rhythm. The sound of the drums, in harmony with the
universe around him, the stars, the fields, the land
of Orissa fascinated the child. He also watched
closely and imitated the akhadapilas (boys of the
gymnasia) as they danced, and he drummed out the
rhythm of the mardala on the sides of his buttocks.
Painting (the frozen images), rhythm, and movement
were to remain the hallmarks of his creations.
Unable
to dissuade Kelucharan from indulging in the
effeminate art of gotipua dancing, his father allowed
him to train under Balabhadra Sahu and finally
abandoned him to Guru Sri Mohan Sundar Goswami and
his Rasa party. The surrogate father was to become
the model in Kelucharan's later relationship with his
own students. At the theatre party, Kelucharan learnt
not only the arts of acting, singing, and dancing,
but also stagecraft, make-up, and choreography. Above
all, he trained in both the mardala and the tabla
under masters. The theatre group toured six to seven
months of the year and rehearsed the remaining
months.
When
the boy finally left the Rasa theatre party after
twelve years, he eked out a living by rolling bidis
(indigenous cigarettes), watering betel groves, and
carrying sand. Life was eased when he joined
Kavichandra Kali Chandra Pattnaik's Annapurna Theatre
in Cuttack and earned Rs.7 a month setting the stage,
acting occasionally and playing percussion, under
Harihar Rao. He trained in khola from Agadhu Moharana
and in tabla from Kshetramohan Kar and Harihar Rao.
He also learnt Uday Shankar's dance techniques and
the use of hand gestures from Guru Dayal Saran.
Life
continued evenly for the young man and the dance of
Orissa until the major breakthrough with the staging
of Vasmasura, created by Guru Pankaj Charan Das. As
Siva, Kelucharan was an instant hit. After a few more
dance dramas, the young dancer left with Laxmi Priya
for Puri, trained and researched some more, to return
to Cuttack at the age of 30 as a dance teacher at
Kala Vikash Kendra. He remained there for fifteen
years, laying the foundation of what is now known as
Orissi dance.
With
the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1966, the title of
Padmashree in January 1972, honorary doctorate in
January 1982, the Padma Bhushan and the Kalidas
Samman in 1989, Kelucharan was finally on the road to
fame, from rolling bidis to becoming a legend in his
own time, at home and abroad. The most prolific
choreographer, Guru Kelucharan worked on some of his
masterpieces with Pandit Bhubaneswar Misra as his
music composer. The demands for his dances also led
to the establishment of training centres in Delhi,
Calcutta, and Bombay.
Orissi
has come into its own, and it is the guru's job now
to translate his movements to paper at the Orissi
Research Wing. The Odissi Path Finder has already
been published, both in Oriya and in English. His art
has come full circle, and often the visual artist in
him takes over, transforming the notations into works
of art, sometimes to the frustration of his one-time
student, now boss, Dr. Kumkum Mohanty.
His
primary claim to fame in dance creation lies in his
pallavis (flowering of Orissi). The unfolding of the
dance through the coming to life of the sculptures in
various ragas (melodic moods) with intricate
rhythmical patterns is remarkable. He has created
pallavis for each of his dance students like a master
artist flirting with his artistic creation. Kumkum
Mohanty recalls the guru and Pandit Bhubaneswar Misra
"in days gone by" working late into the
night at her father's house creating pallavis with
Kelucharan composing rhythm patterns on the mardala
and Pandit Misra composing music on the harmonium
(similar to an accordion). Her job she recalls was to
remember the compositions so that they would not have
to start from scratch the next night. She served as
their human tape recorder. The team worked miracles
with subjects like Sanjukta and Kumkum. Today the
creations have become even more complex and long.
