Gangadhar Pradhan | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1948-07-10)10 July 1948 Parikula,Puri district,Odisha |
| Died | 10 October 2010(2010-10-10) (aged 62) |
| Occupation | Classical Dancer |
| Children | 4 |
| Awards | Sangeet Natak Akademi Award,Padma Shri |
| Website | konarkfestival |
Gangadhar Pradhan (10 July 1948 – 10 October 2010) was an IndianOdissi dancer.
Pradhan was born in Parikula, a village inPuri district,Odisha.[1][2] He was a sickly baby; his father, Muralidhar Pradhan, a farmer, and mother, Dwitika Devi, whose previous children had died, dedicated him to Balunkeshwar, the presiding deity of the temple in the nearby village of Dimirisena.[3] When he was six, he became aGotipua dancer at the temple and discovered a vocation for dance. He later trained atUtkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya[3] in Odissi and in playing themardala, and accompaniedSanjukta Panigrahi as her co-dancer and percussionist.[1][2] He was an accomplished choreographer.[2][3]
He founded Orissa Dance Academy inBhubaneswar in 1975, and Konark Natya Mandap inKonark in 1986, and also established both theKonark Dance Festival (also in 1986) and theDhauli dance festival (in 2001),[1][3] as well as several smaller dance festivals, and ran the Chitralekha Dance Academy Festival in Canada.[3] He was a past president of the OrissaSangeet Natak Akademi.[1] In his later years, he organised a project to document the folk dance styles of the state.[2]
Pradhan had a son and three daughters. In early 2010 he underwent anangioplasty at anApollo hospital in Bhubaneswar, but he died on 10 October at the age of 62 after acerebral haemorrhage.[1]
Pradhan was the recipient of an honorary doctorate fromUtkal University.[1] He was awarded theSangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1998[4] and thePadma Shri (Indian's fourth highest civilian award) in 2008.[5]