Cuttack: This year, Guru Raghunath Dutta Samman was conferred upon eminent Odissi dancer Guru Jyoti Rout at 13th ‘Guru Smarane Utsav’ held at Kala Vikas Kendra in Cuttack on January 12.
The two-day-long festival was jointly organised by Soor Mandir, one of the premier Odissi dance institutions of the state, established by Guru Dr Jyotsna Sahoo in 1994, and Kala Vikas Kendra.
While the inaugural evening was ‘Guru Smarane Utsav-2025’, the concluding evening was titled as ‘Prarambham-2025’.
As the title suggests, the festival is organised in the memory of Guru Raghunath Dutta, from whom Dr Sahoo received her initial training. However, she later honed her skill under the watchful eyes of Guru Mayadhar Raut, Guru Kumkum Mohanty and Guru Ratikant Mohapatra. Her devotion towards her guru is evident from the fact that she has been organising the festival for the last 12 years.
The esteemed guests including Pandit A Maheswar Rao, film personality Chandi Parija and Rabindranath Mohanty, the trustee of Kala Vikas Kendra, inaugurated the evening by lighting the auspicious lamp. The guests remembered Guru Raghunath Dutta, speaking about his contribution to the Odissi dance.
In the next segment, Odissi dancer Guru Jyoti Rout was awarded with ‘Guru Raghunath Dutta Samman’.
The cultural evening commenced with ‘Guru Vandana’ by the well-trained junior dancers of Soor Mandir, followed by an impressive solo Odissi dance recital by Guru Jyoti Rout. She presented ‘Rasanubhava’. She depicted nine moods of human emotion, known as She depicted nine human emotions, or rasas, such as Shringar (love), Veera (heroism), Bhaya (fear), Roudra (anger), Karunya (sadness), Adbhuta(amazement), Hasya (laughter), Vibhatsa (Disgust) and Shanti (peace).
The item was composed by Guru Jyoti Rout herself, music composed by Guru Dheeraj Mohapatra and rhythm composed by Guru Sachidananda Das. The immensely gifted dancer’s natural expressions through her face and eyes were remarkable. Her exemplary grip over the medium was evident from the very beginning of the recital. Her recital ticked all the boxes of a presentation worth watching.
Worth mentioning, Dr Rout is running her own dance institution Jyoti Kala Mandir from the USA with a branch in Bhubaneswar.
The following item was a solo Odissi dance by Er Dr Srinivas Ghatuary. He, best known as Milan, is presently working with the police department but his passion is anchoring and performing Odissi dance. He can be seen being the emcee of most cultural festivals in and outside the state.
He presented ‘Rasanuraga’. Here, he depicted a couple separated by distance but connected at hearts.As it starts raining, the nayika feels the pangs of loneliness. She ties a letter to a bird’s leg, believing her letter would reach her beloved.From portraying the character of a young woman, he swiftly enters into the character of the nayaka. After receiving the letter, he sends the reply, assuring her of his early return.He once again returned to his early character, depicting how the nayika is on the cloud nine after receiving the answer.
The item was based on Raga Raga Malika and Tala Tala Malika, choreographed by Guru Jyotsna Sahoo, script, dialogue and music overview by Dr Ghatuary, music composed by Agnimitra Behera and rhythm composed by Guru Dhaneswar Swain.
A combination of good choreography and beautiful execution came alive in his presentation, touching the hearts of both art lovers and common audience. He was able to keep his audience spellbound throughout his performance.
The next performer was Guru Jyotiranjan Das who presented Mangalacharan ‘Santakaram’, an invocation to Lord Vishnu, based on Raga Raga Malika and Tala Tala Malika and choreographed by Guru Sujata Mohapatra. With remarkable body movements and facial expressions, he instantly stroke a chord with the audience.
The fourth and the last solo Odissi presentation of the evening was by Kajal Panigrahi, a disciple of Guru Dr Jyotsna Sahoo. She presented ‘Jay Mahesh’, paying obeisance to Lord Shiva. The item was based on Raga Raga Malika and Tala Tala Malika, choreographed by Guru Ratikant Mohapatra and music composed by Shree Debasish.Her mesmerizing performance vouched for her passion for the art.
The fifth item of the evening was a duet Odissi dance recital by Chinmay Kumar Das and Mayureekrishna Sahoo, both are disciples of Guru Jyotsna Sahoo. They presented ‘Nada Ninada’, a choreographic composition of their guru with music composed by Swapneswar Chakraborty and rhythm composed by Guru Sachidananda Das. It was amazing to see their brilliant space management and chemistry, but they need to improve their facial expressions to make their recital more enjoyable.
The following item was also a duet Odissi dance recital by Shreya Swain and Jyotirmayee Tripathi, disciples of Guru Sahoo. They presented an abhinaya ‘Pacharile dine Radhika ku’. With their powerful performance, both Swain and Tripathi were able to draw the audience into their dance
The evening came to an end with a group Odissi dance performance by the artistes of Kala Vikas Kendra.
The second and concluding evening ‘Prarambham-2025’ witnessed some scintillating performances by the artistes of Soor Mandir and Kala Vikas Kendra. While the artistes of Soor Mandir presented Shree Hari stotram, Basant Pallavi, Bhairabi Pallavi, Madan Mohan Asthakam and Moksha under the direction of Guru Dr Jyotsna Sahoo, the artistes of Kala Vikas Kendra, Saispandan and Nrutyapragyan presented Ganesh Vandana, abhinaya etc.
The concluding evening had Cuttack Municipality Corporation deputy commissioner Swetapadma D Satpathy, film actor Sritam Das and managing trustee of Kala Vikas Kendra Ravindranath Mohanty as esteemed guests.
An Odissi dancer and a disciple of Guru Dr Jyotsna Sahoo, Lipsa Mohapatra was the anchor of both evenings.
