BHUBANESWAR: New Delhi-based Odissi danseuse Padma Shri Ranjana Gauhar will be conferred the coveted Mahari award this year. The award, instituted by Guru Pankaj Charan Odissi Research Foundation, carries a cash award of Rs.25, 000 besides a memento and a citation.

Announcing the award, foundation secretary Sarat Das told mediapersons here on Friday that the award was named and instituted by his father and the `guru of gurus' of Odissi dance late Pankaj Charan Das to honour a dancer of high calibre every year who would be dedicated to dance like the divine dancers of the Jagannath temple known as Maharis (the devdasis). It is being presented on the birthday of the guru, which is being celebrated as Guru Pankaj Utsav, he added.

Past awardees

Into its 13th year, some of the past awardees include star dancers like Aloka Kanungo, Jhelum Paranjpe, Aruna Mohanty, Sangeeta Dash, Sujata Mohapatra, Bijayini Satpathy, Meera Das, Leena Mohanty and Kavita Dwivedy, the secretary informed and revealed that the cash award has been enhanced from 20,000 to 25, 000 this year.

An 11-member jury comprising dancers, musicians and mediapersons selected Ranjana as the awardee out of five nominations. The other contenders were Kolkata-based Sharmila Biswas and Rina Jana besides Mumbai-based Daksha Mashruwalla and Shubhada, it was learnt.

Pankaj Utsav

The award will be presented during the two-day Pankaj Utsav commencing on March 16 at Rabindra Mandap, informed Das. Governor Rameshwar Thakur and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik are slated to attend the festival, he added.

Nine soloists

Continuing with the tradition of encouraging solo artistes as per the wishes of the late maestro, the festival will feature nine soloists, both promising and established, this year.

While the inaugural evening will have Aurosmita Acharya, Mousumi Madhuchhanda, Sarita Mishra, Ashoak Ghosal and Bandita Das, the concluding evening will witness performance of the Mahari awardee Ranjana Gauhar followed by Rina Jana of Kolkata and Jammie Lynn Colley from US and Sitara Thobani from Canada. Both the dancers from abroad are disciples of US-based dancer and dance professor Ratna Roy who was one of the senior most disciples of Pankaj Charan.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail