Sanjukta Panigrahi

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Sanjukta Panigrahi, born on 24 August 1944 (Berhampur, Ganjam District, Orissa state), died on 24 June 1997, is an eminent Odissi dancer of India. In recognition of her contribution to dancing and associated activities, Republic of India honoured her by conferring on her the Padma Shree (1975), one of the major civilian awards of India. She is also recipient of the Sangeet Kala Academy Award (1976).

Apart from presenting Odissi performances in different parts of India, Sanjukta Panigrahi has been a part of Government’s cultural delegation to different countries, including to the USA and the Philippines (1969), United Kingdom (1983), Israel, Delphi International Festival in Greece (1989). She has also performed in France for eleven weeks, and participated there in the International Music Festival at Paris.

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[edit] Early life

She was born on 24 August 1944 in a traditional Brahmin family of Orissa. 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 patronizing chhau folk dance for long. She recognized the talent in her daughter, and encouraged her despite some initial resistance from, Abhiram Misra, father of Sanjukta. The reason for the resistance was the fact that in those days this form of dance was performed generally by temple singing girls, called maharis and gotipuras. These girls were like devadasis in the temples of south India.

At the initiative of her mother’s initiative, she started to receive dancing lessons from Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. She was assessed to be the best child artist by the Bisuba Milan consecutively for three years during 1950-53. Sanjukta recalls one of her dance 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. She bagged the first prize in International Children’s Film Festival in 1952. Encouraged by this, her parents decided to arrange better dancing lessons for her. They sent her to Kalakshetra at Chennai. There she continued her lessons under the guidance of Rukmini Devi Arundale. She stayed there for next six years, and graduated with a diploma in dancing with Kathakali as her second subject. As a member of an elite dancing troupe, Kalakshetra Ballet Troupe, she toured many places in India and other countries. At the age of 14 she returned to Orissa. The state government of Orissa awarded her a scholarship to learn Kathak from Guru Hazarilal in Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan, Mumbai. However, she left the course and returned to Orissa to concentrate on Odissi.

At Kalakshetra, Chennai, she had fallen in love with Raghunath Panigrahi, ten year senior to her, and a fine vocalist of Geet Govinda. Her father resisted her marrying an artist thinking that she “would starve” under the popular notion that artists did not earn anything. However, her mother supported her, and they were married. They got two children over a period of time.

The initial years were very challenging for the couple, and both had to struggle a lot. In 1967, Sanjukta’s guru was conferred with Sangeet Kala Academy Award, and Sanjukta rendered an Odissi performance during the award presentation ceremony in New Delhi. The audience was thrilled at her captivating performance and the rhythm. She had made her mark at the national level, and from that point she did not look back. In the meanwhile her husband had emerged a fine vocalist, who started to render music at her performances. The Sanjukta-Raghunath duo enthralled the audience for long, even outlasting the Yamini-Jyothismathi duo.

[edit] The career

During her long dancing career she choreographed many innovative themes apart from the traditional ones. She has spent some time at the International School of Anthropology, and was well versed in several languages of India including Orriya (her mother tongue), Tamil, Bengali, Hindi, English, and Sanskrit. Thus, she was able to base her ballets drawing themes from a variety of sources.

[edit] A quote

“I had two gurus, each with contradicting views. Rukmini Devi Arundale stressed technique while Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra insisted upon forgetting technique. I was confused. Much later I realized that with dedication and hard work, technique would follow automatically.”

[edit] The last years

She continued to perform in most of the state functions. Her pioneering efforts, she brought forth almost forgotten Odissi style of dancing to an important position in the dance repertory of India. For decades, she remained an undisputed leading dancer of Odissi. She died of cancer at a relatively young age of 55 on 24 June 1997. Even up to her last years, and even battling death and severe keen problems due to gouts, she looked younger than her real age with a slim figure.

[edit] Reference

  • Indra Gupta, India’s 50 Most Illustrious Women New Delhi: Icon Publications, 2003. ISBN 81-88086-19-3

[edit] External links

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