Sanjukta Panigrahi | |
|---|---|
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| Born | (1944-08-24)24 August 1944 |
| Died | 24 June 1997(1997-06-24) (aged 52)Bhubaneswar |
| Occupation(s) | Indian classical dancer, choreographer |
| Years active | 1950s–1997 |
| Spouse | Raghunath Panigrahi |
| Awards | Padma Shri (1975) Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1976) |
Sanjukta Panigrahi (24 August 1944 – 24 June 1997)[1] was a classical dancer fromIndia, who was the foremost exponent ofIndian classical danceOdissi. Sanjukta was the firstOdia woman to embrace this ancient classical dance at an early age and ensure its grand revival.[2][3]
In recognition of her contribution to dancing and associated activities, she was honoured with one of India's highest civilian awards the,Padma Shri (1975). She is also recipient of theSangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1976.
Apart from presentingOdissi performances in different parts of India, Sanjukta Panigrahi has been a part of Government's cultural delegation to different countries, including to the US and thePhilippines (1969), United Kingdom (1983),Israel, Delphi International Festival inGreece (1989). She has also performed in France for eleven weeks, and participated there in the International Music Festival at Paris.
Panigrahi was born inBerhampur,Ganjam District,Odisha state, to a traditionalBrahmin family of Abhiram Mishra and Shakuntala Mishra.[4][need quotation to verify]
When she was a small child, she would start dancing intuitively to any rhythmic sound like the sound of chopping of vegetable or cutting of firewood. Her mother was from Baripada and belonged to a family, which had been patronisingchhau folk dance for long. She recognised the talent in her daughter, and encouraged her despite some initial resistance from Abhiram Misra, Sanjukta's father. The reason for the resistance was that in those days this form of dance was performed generally by temple dancing girls, calledMaharis. Male dancers are calledGotipuas. These girls were likeDevadasis in the temples of South India.
At the initiative of her mother, she started to learn dance fromKelucharan Mohapatra aged four. She was assessed to be the best child artist by the Bisuba Milan consecutively for three years during 1950–1953.
In one of her performances as six-year-old girl, she refused to leave the stage and continued to perform energetically even after the time was over. Her mother had to shout at and cajole her to stop dancing. At nine, she performed at annual festival of the Children's Little Theatre inCalcutta.[5]
She won the first prize in International Children's Film Festival in 1952. Encouraged by her success, her parents decided to send her for better dance training, toKalakshetra atChennai. There she continued her lessons under the guidance ofRukmini Devi Arundale. For the next six years she stayed there, and eventually graduated with aNrityapraveen diploma inBharatnatyam withKathakali as the second subject. After that, she toured many places in India and abroad, as a member of the 'Kalakshetra Ballet Troupe'.
At the age of 14, she returned toOdisha. The state government awarded her a scholarship to learnKathak from Guru Hazarilal inBharatiya Vidya Bhavan,Mumbai. However, she left the course and returned to Odisha to concentrate onOdissi.
The initial years were very challenging for the Sanjukta and her husband, more in terms of eking out a living than anything else. Though things turned for the better, when in 1966, her guruKelucharan Mahapatra was conferred with theSangeet Natak Akademi Award, and she rendered an Odissi performance during the award ceremony in New Delhi. The audience was enthralled by her performance. She had made her mark at the national level, and from that point she did not look back.
Meanwhile, her husband had emerged as a fine vocalist, and also started rendering music for her performances. In the coming decades, the Sanjukta-Raghunath duo enthralled the audience, even outlasting the Yamini-Jyothismathi duo, and were jointly awarded theSangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1976.
Sanjukta later came to be known as GuruKelucharan Mahapatra's greatest disciple, and they travelled the length and the breath of the India, performing together and popularising the almost lost dance form ofOdissi, so much so that today, both are considered equal revivalists of the dance form.[6]
Sanjukta Panigrahi spent some time at the International School of TheatreAnthropology at Bologna, Italy in 1986, 1990 and 1992, teaching short courses and demonstrating Odissi dance to foreign students, further adding to its global popularity.[7]
Sanjukta's forte was herNritta, or pure dance, in which she was outstanding. Her great advantage was her musician husband, whose constant presence helped her finesse her abilities in this genre. InAbhinaya (interpretation of poetry), connoisseurs and critics were agreed on the fact that she more often than not veered towards jatra and melodrama.
Together with her musician husband, Sanjukta has left behind a rich repertoire of Odissi dance, both modern as well as classical, ranging from traditional numbers based on theJayadeva'sGita Govinda to the padabalies ofSurdas,Chaupais from theRamacharitamanasa ofTulasidas and the songs ofVidyapati andRabindranath Tagore, with piece-de-resistance being, the innovativeYugma-Dwanda: a sort of Jugalbandi between the dancer and the musician in Raga Bageshri, composed by Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi and the sublime,Moksha Mangalam which in time had become her personal signature, which she used to end her performances, on an ethereal note.[8]
In the words of noted dance critic,Dr. Sunil Kothari,"Sanjukta gave upBharatnatyam and devoted her life to Odissi, putting her signature on the form."[9]
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She continued to perform in most of the state functions. With her pioneering efforts, she brought forth an almost forgotten Odissi style of dancing to an important position in the dance repertory of India.
She died of cancer at the age of 52, on 24 June 1997.
AtKalakshetra,Chennai, she had fallen in love withRaghunath Panigrahi, ten-year her senior, and a fine vocalist ofGita Govinda, who left a promising career in film music inChennai, to provide vocal support in her performances.[10] When she was 16 years of age, they got married and over a period of time had two sons.[3]
Sanjukta left behind many accomplished students, including Dr. Chitra Krishnamurti, director ofNrityalaya (an Odissi school in Potomac) and Joyoti Das a resident of Melbourne, a devout disciple of her in Australia, the artistic director and teacher of Kalamandir School of Indian classical dances, dedicated to maintain the continuum of Sanjukta's Odissi style. Sanjukta Panigrahi is considered an embodiment of Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra's art.
After her death, her husbandRaghunath Panigrahi formed a trust in her name, 'Sanjukta Panigrahi Memorial Trust', in 1999, to promote the cause of Odissi dance. Since 2001, every year on her birth anniversary, the trust has been giving away scholarships to budding dancers, and awards excellence in the field of Odissi dance.[11][12]
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