Bhubaneswar: After two years of successfully organising Meera Festival of Dances, Nrutyayan, one of the premier Odissi dance institutions of the nation established by Padma Shri recipient Guru Durga Charan Ranbir, held the third edition of the festival at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar on February 24 and 25 at 6.30pm everyday.
The concluding evening witnessed scintillating Odissi and Kathak dance presentations.
After the lighting the lamp ceremony attended by guests like executive vice president, corporate affairs, JSPL Ltd,Bhubaneswar, Vibhu Prasad Mishra, assistant executive director, Dalmia Cement Bharat Ltd, Chandra Sekhar, group editor of Prameya and News 7, Gopal Krushna Mohapatra and managing director of Mothers Public School Minati Sabat, the cultural evening got off to a fine start.
The evening commenced with a solo Odissi recital by Guru Durga Charan Ranbir’s senior disciple, Smt Leena Mohanty, who is also the first recipient of the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar, instituted by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi.
A top grade artist of Doordarshan, Leena has proven to be a versatile dancer with a vision. She is the artistic director of Bansi Bilash, an institution devoted to training young and upcoming dancers of Guru Deba Prasad Das’ School of Odissi and provides a creative outlet for dancers, musicians and art lovers in Bhubaneswar.
She was initiated into Odissi under Guru Sri Deba Prasad Das and continued her training under the able guidance of Guru Braja Kishore Mallick and Guru Sri Durga Charan Ranbir.
She commenced her recital with Pallavi, a pure dance piece, set to Raga Madhyamadi and Tala Ektali. While it was her own choreography, the music was composed by Dr Dheeraj Kumar Mohapatra.Her crisp and balanced movements, expressive facial expressions and perfect mudras were testimony to the time spent on training and efforts to achieve the perfection.
She followed it up with an abhinaya “Yamihe Kamiha Saranam”, an Ashtapadi from Jayadev’s Gita Govinda, expressing a bedecked Radha’s pangs of separation while waiting for Krishna beyond the agreed time.Here too, Leena captivated the audience.The item was set to Raga Pattadip and Tala Khemata, choreographed by Leena herself, music composed by Dr Dheeraj Kumar Mohapatra.
The dancer performed to live music and the accompanists were Dr Dheeraj Kumar Mohapatra and Sandhyarani Rout on vocal, guru Ramachandra Behera on the Mardala, guru Jabahar Mishra on the Flute, Soumya Biswajit on the Sitar and guru Dibakar Behera on the Manjira.
The second item of the evening was a solo Kathak recital by Rupa Rani Das Borah from New Delhi.
A well known Kathak dancer of Lucknow Gharana, Borah is an ‘A’ Grade artist of Doordarshan Kendra, Delhi and an empanelled artist of ICCR, Delhi.She received her initial training from Shri Bipul Chandra Das, Guwahati, and received her higher training under the watchful eyes of (Late) Subhas Dixit and Smt. Bina Singh, Lucknow, and guru (Late) Surendra Saikia, a well-known Kathak Guru and awardee of UP SNA.
She began her presentation with a bhajan “Har Har Mahadev”, dedicated to lord Shiva. Through her excellent facial expressions and body movements, she described various attributes of the all auspicious Shiva, who with matted locks curbs the fury of river Ganga, whois adorned with rudrakha beads and serpents coiled around his body as ornaments, wearing a tiger skin he meditates at top the Kailash mountains. Shiva is an epitome of oustraties and penance.
Set to Raag Jogh, the item was choreographed by Rupa Rani herself, music composed by Dr Tapas Pal, lyrics, compose and vocal by Sangeeta Chamuah.
She followed it up with Nirtat Dhang, a very old Ashtapadi by Kalka Bindadin Maharaj. Nirtat Dhang describes the Rasa Leela of Lord Krishna in the Lakshan Geet format. Lakshan Geet in Kathak is a traditional song that describes the characteristics (lakshan) of the dance form. It serves as a pedagogical tool, helping students understand the essential elements of Kathak.
She went on to perform traditional item teen taal, showcasing upaz, uthaan, aamad, tihaai etc in Bilambit lay and paran, aamad, tukra, tihaai in madhya lay and a bandish in drut lay. Her spins, the essential of any Kathak recital, enthralled the audience.
Next came onto the stage were Smt Suhag Nalini Das and her disciple Atrayee Dutta. Smt Das is the daughter-in-law of Adiguru Pankaj Charan Das and wife of Sarat Das and the director of Samprada, one of the premier Odissi dance institutions of the nation.
They presented Nata Pasara. It is a composition of Mukta Mahari, which describes the Suddha Nritya of the Maharis, the grammar that was followed by them, that later paved the way to formulate Odissi’s grammar.
The guru and shishya duo left the audience mesmerized.
The item was based on Raga Kumancha and Tala Ektali, choreographed by Guru Sarat Das, music composed by Guru Ramahari Das and rhythm composed by Guru Dhaneswar Swain.
The evening came to an end with a group Odissi presentation ‘Niyati’ or destiny in English. The item was presented by senior dancers of Utkal Dance and Research Academy (UDRA). The institution was founded by late Guru Sahadev Padhi, and is currently being headed by his daughter and disciple, Smt Subhalaxmi Padhi.
The dancers, Subhalaxmi Padhi, Aryarupa Das, Sefali Pattnaik, Rajashree Panda, Loni Ghadei, Snehalata Nahaka, Laxmipriya Pradhan, Priyanshi Panda and Shruti Pradhan, all were equally graceful, narrated how destiny shapes our lives, ensuring that what is meant something doesn’t happen, it wasn’t meant to be, and something better may await.
In this piece, a message was sent out that destiny governs us, with the dancers giving examples of King Bali, Ravana and Duryodhana.
The item was choreographed by Smt Arati Kar and Yudhishthir Nayak, music composed by Guru Umesh Chandra Das and rhythm composed by Guru Dhaneswar Swain.
Since the inception of Meera Festival of Dances, Nrutyayan has been giving away two awards in honour of its founder, the Guru Durga Charan Ranbir Lifetime Achievement award and the Guru Durga Charan Ranbir Yuva Puraskar. The former is conferred upon a veteran Odissi dancer who has spent an entire lifetime in the service of Odissi Dance and the latter is awarded to a promising and established Indian Classical Dancer.
The 3rd Guru Durga Charan Ranbir Lifetime Achievement Award 2025 was conferred upon veteran Odissi dancer and Padmashree awardee Smt Ranjana Gauhar from New Delhi and the 3rd Guru Durga Charan Ranbir Yuva Puraskar was conferred upon Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar awardee, Dr Mandakranta Roy.
The festival on both the days was expertly compered by Dr Mrutyunjay Rath and was conducted by Smt Gayatri Ranbir, Director, Nrutyayan.
