Srjan, which was founded in 1993 by the eminent Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra has evolved
into a premier Odissi dance institute of this nation. Srjan symbolises Guruji’s humble
offering of the classicism of Odissi dance, music & percussion to our rich national ethos.
Srjan’s mandate is to consistently maintain the high standards of performance, set by
Guruji himself, teach a varied age-group of dancers the subtle nuances of the Odissi
classical style, and also present to the larger public, new choreography & compositions in a
bid to keep the fragile dance system not only alive, but also to help it gain an ever-growing
presence in the cultural life of India.
Today, a vital aspect of Srjan’s function is dance teaching, which is patterned after the
ancient “Gurukul” system; a number of students live in the Guru’s home & the constant
interaction with the teacher & each other helps one to absorb the total ambience of the time
- honored heritage. And Guruji’s rigorous teaching method has been faithfully adopted by
his son, Ratikant Mohapatra, who has, all along, ably and imaginatively assisted this great
& dedicated teacher in imparting knowledge & techniques of the Odissi dance heritage.
This legacy is truly priceless.
What marks out this ambience of teaching and learning are the individual attention, and an
empathetic, personalised care that had been taken by Guruji (and now by Ratikant),
extended to every disciple, irrespective of individual competence. This one-to-one
relationship creates an atmosphere of not only trust but of belonging to this second home;
lifetime bonds are forged here.
Dance is not the only concern of this institution. Without much external funds coming in
Srjan has managed to achieve substantial progress with various ways to support needy
students. Srjan serves Odissi dance in other ways too. For 15 years now, the Guru
Kelucharan Mohapatra Award has been bestowed upon a distinguished person in the area
of performing arts [namely dance, theatre, music & cinema]. Srjan’s primary focus
encompasses various aspects of teaching and performing – 1) maintaining a high level
repertoire group, the artistes (of multiple age-groups) of which are paid by the institution;
2) video and print archives with unique compositions by Guruji and live recordings of
teaching sessions in progress, a well equipped library and many other accessories. In 2005
a separate dance school and repertoire group functions under the aegis of Srjan Kolkata
Chapter & organizes the Yuva Prativa Samman, as part of the annual “Deesha” festival of
two days of Odissi dance, where an accomplished young dancer is presented with a
handsome cash award and cost-free dance training sessions for one calendar year.
Apart from “Deesha” Srjan also hosts, every year three major dance festivals – “Guru
Kelucharan Mohapatra Award Festival”, “Marga Darshana” (featuring male dancers only)
and the ‘Samsmaranam” Festival (jointly organized by Srjan and disciples, held in various
cities on rotation basis, to mark the death anniversary of Guruji).
The training schedules are rigorous, because they involve not only dance-practice and
exercises, but also an understanding of Odissi music and rhythm (Tala) system, as well as
an overview of the Indian classical heritage and its value system. At Srjan we are the
fortunate beneficiaries of this tradition which has been inherited by us through our Guruji,
and forms the bedrock of all our efforts in the service of Odissi dance.
Hence, at Srjan, everyone is important, each person’s thoughts and feelings count. The
teachers, the students and the support staff are motivated to live and work as a family- an
opportunity thus created for individual fulfillment and the fulfillment of the little
community’s commitment to a life of art and aesthetics.
