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Legend forgotten

BHUBANESWAR: Were the government and the people of Orissa – the huge Odissi dancers’ community in particular – aware that Tuesday was the 10th death anniversary of Padma Shri Sanjukta Panigrahi? Certainly not.

Ironically, they preferred to remain blissfully ignorant of the occasion that deserved an observation, especially in her own State.

If the government now claims that Odissi has been Orissa’s best known brand and identity abroad and if Odissi has literally grown into an industry today, the credit goes singularly to Sanjukta for her contributions in popularising the dance form worldwide.

Strangely enough, the legendary danseuse, who the world remembers with reverence, was not remembered on her death anniversary in her homeland.

It was Mumbai-based Odissi dancer Jhelum Paranjpe who reminded the global Odissi dancers’ and connoisseurs’ community about the relevance of the day and sought to pay tribute through dance.

Her reminder prompted the Odissi Research Centre’s chief executive Ramahari Das and Sanjukta’s long-time percussionist and Odissi exponent Gangadhar Pradhan to arrange a small prayer meeting for her at the latter’s Orissa Dance Academy at night.

Speaking to The Hindu from Mumbai, Jhelum, a friend of the legendary actress Smita Patil (after whom she named her institution as Smitalay), revealed that ever since Sanjukta passed away, she has been observing her death anniversary as Sanju Divas that gets an annual gathering in Mumbai with mass prayer of dancers and performances for five hours as a tribute to the dancer.

“There could not be any better offering for her. This being the 10th year, we continued dancing for 10 hours,” she revealed.

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