Kelucharan Mohapatra

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Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra (January 8, 1926 - April 7, 2004) was a dancer, guru and proponent of Odissi dance.

Kelucharan Mohapatra was born in Raghurajpur, a village near the temple town of Puri, Orissa, India. He learnt to paint, sculpt and play the khol drum at an early age. He started playing in folk theatre groups and Gotipua troupes from the age of nine. He married dancer Laxmi Priya with whom he often co-acted.

In 1994, he set up "Srjan", an organisation dedicated to train students in Odissi dance.

He trained renowned Odissi dancers like Sanjukta Panigrahi, Kumkum Mohanty, Sonal Mansingh, Protima Bedi, Jhelum Paranjape, Priyambada Mohanty, Minati Mishra, Sharon Lowen and Madhavi Mudgal as well as Bharatanatyam dancers like Yamini Krishnamurthy.

The Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award was instituted in 1995 in his honour. It is an annual award and is given to artists who have contributed to arts.

He kept healthy to his last days and kept performing despite a heart surgery. He died in Bhubaneshwar, Orissa.

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