Spirit of homage - Students pay tribute to late Odissi Guru

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik presents the Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra award to flautist Mohini Mohan Patnaik and Bhagirathi Das, who designed Odissi costumes for the late Kelucharan Mohapatra, at the Srjan event in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 6: The disciples of late Odissi Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra gathered on Teachers’ Day to pay homage to their dance master on the fifth day of the 16th Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Awards festival.

The recitals started with innovative presentation of Odissi dance concepts. Violinist L Subramaniam and his team’s melodious and fascinating music made the concluding day of the cultural festival an unforgettable affair.

The mysticism associated with the cult practices for goddess Durga were presented in an enlightening Odissi rendition called tantra. Choreographed by Guru Ratikanta Mohapatra, the director Srjan said that he organised the festival to illustrate how the of theme of how tantric spirituality could be used to make the world a better place.

The group dance piece showcased 12 female artistes and a male dancer, all ex-students of Srjan.

The highlight of the performance was the use of the entire stage that was divided into a two sections, one behind a curtain and the other in front of it.

Artists perform during the cultural programme at Rabindra Mandap. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

The dancers wore costumes that glowed in the dark. Contemporary stage designing effects such as light control and sound composition made the piece a worth watching. The concept behind the creative piece was by Rahul Acharya and Laxmikant Palit composed the music. The script was developed by Jaydev Das and Manmohan Acharya.

The enthusiasm in the audience was backed by astounding musical notes rendered by L Subramaniam’s violin.

A general practitioner, the renowned musician performed along with his youngest son Ambi Subramaniam. The duo regaled the audience with kalyana raga on cyclic eight beats of the mridangam played by V. V. Ramamurthy.

“Raga Kalyana is the complementary to raga Yaman in Hindustani classical music,” said L Subramaniam.

Accompanying them was morsing player G. Sathya Sai, a Guinness record holder for playing the percussion instrument which is similar to a Jew’s harp, for 24 hours continuously.

The jugalbandi between Ramamurthy and Sathya Sai towards the end of the concert was particularly electrifying.

Having performed alongside Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra at international concerts, Subramaniam shared memories of the legendary Odissi guru with the audience.

“It was a matter of immense pride to share the stage with him,” he recalled.

The five-day festival that featured renowned artistes of international repute from the world of music and dance, held the award giving ceremony in memory of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra on the valedictory evening on Sunday. The awards for this year were presented by chief minister Naveen Patnaik and culture minister Debi Prasad Mishra to flautist Mohini Mohan Pattnaik and Odissi costume maker Bhaghirathi Das.