Odissi dancer Rojalin Mohanty. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 16: She has toured half the world and the length and breadth of India to perform Odissi.

At 27, Puri-based dancer Rojalin Mohanty is one of the brightest artistes from the pilgrim town.

Rojalin, who began training at the age of six, was encouraged by her parents to take up the state’s classical dance form.

“My mother was trained in Odissi, but could not pursue it as her career. But mom and dad always encouraged me to go for my passion,” said Rojalin, who was groomed under the tutelage of prominent guru Gobinda Chandra Pal and then by exponents Kanduri Charan Behera and Lingaraj Behera.

At present, she is honing her skills under the tutelage of Narayan Pandey.

A master degree holder in Sanskrit and qualified in computer software with O level and PGDCA courses, Rojalin is also fluent in Japanese, as she has completed her second-year in the language course.

However, dance remains her obsession because that allows her to serve Lord Jagannath, says the dancer,who has performed in Japan, Hong Kong, USA and a few European countries and at least 15 states in India.

“I have been immensely fortunate to have performed for the deity during the major Jagannath temple festivals such as jhulan yatra, chandan yatra and janmashtami for over 10 years. Since I was born on debasnan purnima, I also perform in front of the snan mandap where Lord Jagannath and his siblings are given a royal bath a fortnight before rath yatra,” she said.

But dancing in front of the deities when they were being carried on to the chariot during bahuda yatra will remain her most significant and memorable achievement, she said.

“There may be over 20 small and big awards and titles that I have won. But it was a heavenly feeling to perform in front of Lord Jagannath during the pahandi when the deity was escorted to the chariots. I am lucky to have become the first woman to dance as a part of the Lord’s procession in 2012,” she said.

Rojalin approached the temple priests after she had once dreamt of dancing during pahandi, but nothing was working in her favour. However, on the bahuda yatra day, while she was standing outside the Gundicha temple, the chief daitapati Joguni bhai suddenly took her to the Lord and asked to join the procession as a dancer.

This year she performed in 10 states of USA on both rath and bahuda yatra, including Washington DC.

Despite her achievements on and off the stage, hers is a journey with many struggles.

“I stuck to pursue dance as a career despite a lot of discouragement from people in our family in Puri. It is a very conservative society here and you are looked down upon if you chose dance even today in a city that has given birth to most of the art forms in Odisha. Also, except Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, artistes living in other regions of the state never get noticed. For that one has to shift base to the twin cities, but I will never leave my hometown,” she said.