Kelucharan Mohapatra (8 January 1926 – 7 April 2004) was a legendary Indian classical dancer, guru, and exponent of Odissi dance, who is credited with the revival and popularizing of this classical dance form in the 20th century.
He is the first person to receive the Padma Vibhushan from Odisha.
A noted Sanskrit poet of India writes on this Guru: Saango-paanga-subhangi-laasya-madhuram samteerna-nrutyaarnavam, which translates as – "Each fraction of his dancing body leads to paramount sweetness, through miraculous poses and postures. In fact, Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra crossed the ocean of styles."
Early life and history
In his youth, Kelucharan Mohapatra performed Gotipua – a traditional dance form of Odisha where young boys dress up as woman to praise Lord Jagannath. Later in his life he did extensive research on Gotipua and Mahari dance, which lead him to restructure Odissi dance. Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra was a master in Percussion instruments – Mardala and Tabla, which clearly resonates in his dance compositions. He was also skilled in the traditional Pattachitra painting.
Kelucharan Mohapatra along with his wife, Laxmipriya Mohapatra, herself a dancer, and their son Ratikant Mohapatra built Srjan in 1993. Kelucharan Mohapatra was conferred a Doctorate by the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal in 1981.
thumb|Mohapatra on the cover of Artograph in 2021
Disciples
Some notable disciples include
- Sanjukta Panigrahi
- Kumkum Mohanty
- Madhavi Mudgal
- Sonal Mansingh
- Debi Basu
- Protima Bedi
- Jhelum Paranjape
- Ratikant Mohapatra
- Sharmila Biswas
- Sujata Mohapatra
- Sharon Lowen
- Shubhada Varadkar
- Daksha Mashruwala.
Awards
thumb|Birthplace of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra at [[Raghurajpur, Odisha.]]
thumb|Statue of Kelucharan Mohapatra in Bhubaneswar
- Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, 1966
- Padma Shri, 1974
- Padma Bhushan, 1988
- "The real dance must convey the feeling of undivided existence, that a spectator can feel that he is not different from the thing observed".