Honouring an unsung hero of Odissi

A two-day dance festival paid tribute to Guru Pankaj Charan Das through dance and music.

Musical tribute by Sitar exponent Swapneswar Chakraborty and troupe.

Regarded as the “guru of gurus”, Guru Pankaj Charan Das – one of the founder fathers of Odissi dance who was the guru of his co-founders – is often referred to as the unsung hero of Odissi for the massive marginalization of his legacy. However, in his memory, his family members host three annual events that highlight his unique contribution to the dance tradition. One of the three events, the three-year- old Adiguru Pankaj Charan Das award festival hosted by the Guru’s grand daughter and young Odissi dancer Pallavi Das is one. Her two-day event, staged at Rabindra Mandap recently, was a humble homage to the Guru through dance and music.

The sessions devoted exclusively to the Guru’s choreographies were the most attractive feature of the festival . Gayatri Khuntia, the Guru’s senior-most disciple, staged two exclusive compositions of Pankaj Charan – Angikam Bhubanam and Kuru Yadunandana that highlighted the Guru’s approach towards the art and craft of choreography.

A 10-member Jagruti troupe of Bhubaneswar led by Trilochan Sahoo had staged the Guru’s

Om Namah Sivaya , one of the best group compositions in Odissi.

Madhurastaka , the most admired choreography of the Guru, was staged twice during the festival. Young and gifted dancer Manisha Manaswini excelled and won hearts with her execution of the two characters in the choreography – mother Yasoda and child Krishna. And

Nabadurga , a very popular composition, was staged thrice during the two days, by Paraidhi Joshi from Bengaluru, Manosmita Sahu from Bhubaneswar (both solo) and Sanjeev-Sravani Swagatika, the duet performers from Guru Bichitrananda Swain’s famed Rudrakshya Odissi Foundation.

The other choreographic works of Guru Pankaj Charan featured in the festival were

Panchadeva Stutee (Rosa Lakra), Basanta pallabi (Jyotirmayee Das) and Sankarabharan pallabi (duet by Sonia-Samhita).

Three established soloists Leena Nanda and Janhabi Behera and Madhulita Mohapatra offered a fitting tribute to the Guru with their perfect dances. Both Janhabi and Madhulita presented choreographies of their Guru Aruna Mohanty with elan. With an amazing internalisation of the characters of Radha and the sakhi in Madhabe, Bengaluru-based Madhulita Mohapatra was fabulous in avinaya.

Honouring Guru Pankaj Charan’s interest in promoting male dancers in Odissi the festival featured four young male dancers – Gokulsree Das, Rinku Kumar Sahoo, Sagar Khuntia and Pratap Kumar Barik. Guru Ramahari Das Odissi Gurukul and promising dancer-choreographer Pravat Kumar Swain’s Nritya Naivedya Odissi Ensemble’s presentations reflected the Guru’s focus on group choreographies. Sitar exponent Swapneswar Chakraborty and his orchestra staged a scintillating concert of Hindustani and Odissi music.

Adiguru Pakaj Charan Das award for music was conferred on veteran musician and flute exponent Mohini Mohan Patnaik who had been associated with Guru Pankaj Charan Das for decades.

An award for dance went to Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee Odissi exponent Guru Sudhakar Sahu who was under the tutelage of Guru Pankaj Charan during the early years of his career. Dance and music exponents like Ramahari Das, Dhaneswar Swain and Sangeeta Gosain besides Mohini Mohan Patnaik and Sudhakar Sahu spoke on the uniqueness of Guru Pankaj Charan Das.