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Without boundaries
The Making of a Guru: Kelucharan Mahapatra His life and Times by Ileana Citaristi, Delhi: Manohar, pp.186, Rs.500. V.R.Devika is managing trustee, ASEEMA, cultural activist and freelance writer based in Chennai. E-mail: [email protected] ardhachandra as glare Dhaka dei hara karidebi ( holding you by your throat I will throw you out).. The book contains number of descriptions about the ambience and the work done by the Chitrakars to which family Kelucharan was born. She commemts that, The atmosphere inside the enclosure has a magical quality about it, the light filtering through the chamudia and the freshness of the cool, shadowy interior, the neatly kept rows of creepers gives one the feeling of having been transported to some fairy tale garden. It reminded me of the mudra used by Kelucharan in dhira samire yamuna tire ( a soft breeze blows on the bank of Yamuna) to describe how Krishna plucked the softest leaves to prepare a bed of flowers for Radha, the mudra and movement he had used to describe the plucking of leaves or panna loda was performed before my eyes by the old man working in the baraja. The very making of a classical dance form called Odissi unfolds in front of one s eyes as one reads this book. The Angika aspects created step by step, mudra by mudra and stance by stance.the time tested (within forty years!) piece of Jayadevas Dashavatara (in 1947). One can keep going on-the Vachika of the bols and the repertoire worked on, the bhangis and poses worked out, the music-refined etc., the book is the making of the dance more than the Guru. The book is marked by its sensuous quality. It tells you everything you wanted to know about Odissi and the man who made Odissi what it is today. Ileana Citaristi smoothly covers history, probes the personal life, discusses the milieu, and dips into the psyche of the master and his pupils. The text is delicate and intimate with perspective and depth. A whole ethos of Orissa and its art and life is captured with compassion. This book is an immensely valuable resource tool for students and researchers interested in the history and evolution of Indian dances.
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The Making of a Guru,

attempts to recreate the story of Kelucharan s life and achievements. It also tries to capture the flavour of the times, which saw his talent radiating and capturing the hearts of hundreds who came under his spell. The life story of Kelucharan Mahopatra, one of the main architects of the revival of Odissi dance, is intimately interwoven with important events of the cultural life of Orissa for the last sixty years. It is also the story of the development and recognition of the dance itself. From the early years of apprenticeship and struggle to the Padma Vibhushan award that he received recently, Kelucharans artistic journey is one of continuous dedication and search for excellence. For him dance is sadhana, teaching his dharma . From his gurus he imbibed the essence, the passion and poetry of Odissi and these secrets he shares with his students. A great dancer, a brilliant choreographer, a patient teacher and above all, a fine person, Kelucharans wisdom and undemanding simplicity give him a unique vision and child-like purity. The author Ileana Citaristi, an Italian disciple of Mahapatra says in the absence of any written documentation, especially of the events in the first forty years of his life, I had to collect most of the data from the oral testimony of people who were part of the history of the Odissi dance in the making. She has authenticated the data by cross checking through interviews with a number of people who had been part of that cultural scene.

Citaristi brings alive the context in which this was done and the organic growth of a form. Her descriptions are simple, touching, and written in a lucid style of story telling that is touching. She also provides background details for every incidence. For example, young Kelucharans fascination with the Gotipua dance and his stealing time to learn it away from the eyes of his disapproving father is vividly brought out in the background: Although it is not exactly known when this art of the Gotipua or boys dancing in female attire came into being, there is evidence that during the early Vaishnava period, soon after Chaitanyas time, this dance form was used to promote the Vaishnava cult and philosophy, emphasizing the Sakshi Bhava or offering oneself to Krishna as a female attendant.While the prerogative to dance inside the temple proper continued to remain with the maharis, the sahi pilla, as these boys were called, performed as their substitutes outside the temple The narrative is also full of humour, the Gotipua master may not have sued the shastric terminology while teaching but he certainly developed his own system of mnemonic devices which could be understood by his young students ( the average age of a gotipua dancer was between five and twelve years) for the example the pataka gesture (open hand with stretched fingers) would be taught as ek chappura maribi (I will give you a slap), the kartari (the index and medium finger opened as a pair of scissors asnekka kattibi ( I will cut your nose) the kapitta as kana moridebi ( twisting the ear and
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R E V I E W S

Vivacity of Indian museums

Museums of India. Shobita Punja, New Delhi:Penguin Books India, 1998 Nachammai Raman is a freelance writer based in Chennai. E-mail: [email protected] Archaeological Museum, Old Goa, the Assam State Museum in Guwahati, the Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad, the Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh Museum in Jaipur, the Archaeological Museum in Khajuraho, the Government Museum in Mathura, the State Museum in Patna, the Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum in Pune, the Archeological Museum in Sanchi, the Archeological Museum in Sarnath, the Tipu Sultan Museum in Srirangapatnam, Karnataka, the Thanjavur Art Gallery, the Government Museum in Thiruvanthapuram, and the Bharat Kala Bhavan in Varnasi. The guidebook also provides practical and useful information on the museums in India, by state, along with their working hours. The glossary of terms, toward the end of the book, is illuminating. One of the best parts of the book is a table relating museums and historical sites chronologically. For instance, for art during Akbhars period, the sites of historical importance are Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, and Delhi while the museums to visit are the National Museum, New Delhi, Prince of Wales Museum, and Bharat Kala Bhavan. While Punjas efforts must be recognised, it must also be noted that the guidebook sails on the strength of the alluring pictures taken by Nou. The magnificence of the photographs brings Indian art to the readers armchair. Considering how poorly maintained many museums in India are, armchair art seems like a more pleasurable option. A cogent point Punja makes in the interest of museum lovers and Indias manmade treasures is that: Most museums in India receive government grants and do not generate an income through their own programmes. This has led to poor motivation levels of museum personnel and inadequate training, [sic] few museums in India have catalogues of their collections, guides or any other publications. The government has to fully realise the educational potential of museums and make them an important aspect of public life in India.

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is a guidebook published by Penguin for both aficionados and dabblers, written by Shobita Punja who has a background in art history and education. While the text is staid, the illustrative photographs taken by the late Jean-Louis Nou suffuse the book with vivacity. At the outset, Punja explains the structure of the book and its rationale. It is stated that the concept of the museum is foreign to most Indians, but why it is so is not addressed. This is one of the greatest disappointments of the guidebook, which is organised into three sections. The first section deals with some aspects of the cultural history of India; the second section treats the museums featured individually; and the third glosses special terms related to Indian cosmogony and iconography. In the section on the cultural history of India, Punjas rendering of the subcontinents history can be questioned in many instances. Nevertheless, as this is not the thrust of the guidebook, the reader can skim through this section to be acquainted with Punja s approach to Indian museums. The section on museums, however, merits an attentive reading. The museums featured in the book are those that visitors would most likely want to see. The four major cities in India, considered entry points into the country, are dealt with first. In Delhi, Punja looks at the National Museum, one of Indias finest; the National Gallery of Modern Art, one of India s best-maintained; the Crafts Museum, which houses as many as 20,000 artefacts from all over India; the Archaeological Museum at the Red Fort, which displays artefacts pertaining to the Mughal period; the Gandhi Memorial Museum at Raj Ghat as well as the Gandhi Smriti Museum o n Tees January Marg, which provide a very moving documentation of Mahatmas

Gandhis life and work; and the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, whose site was Jawaharlal Nehrus official residence as prime minister. In Mumbai, Punja focuses on the Prince of Wales Museum, whose architecture in itself seems astounding. The museum houses both Indian and European art. Then, Punja moves to Calcutta to the oldest museum in India, the Indian Museum. The Bharhut Room of this museum, which displays an invaluable collection of stone railings with sculptures of the second century from a Buddhist site in Madhya Pradesh, is discussed in detail. In Calcutta, Punja also showcases the Ashutosh Museum of Indian Art, which holds an exemplary collection of craft items, some of which are still produced and used in Bengal and the Victoria Memorial Museum, whose collection is almost exclusively related to the British colonial period. After all, Calcutta was the Little Londonof the East during colonial times. Punja presents Chennais Government State Museum and National Art Gallery as a farrago resulting from the attempt to accommodate as much as possible of the huge, very precious collection. The museum is most notable for its sculptures from Amaravati and South Indian bronzes. The Fort St. George Museum in Chennai, which is interesting both in terms of its architecture and art, is also featured in the section... The other museums finding a place in this guidebook are the Calico Museum of Textiles and the Utensils Museum in Ahmedabad, the Government Museum in Alwar, Rajasthan, the Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery in Gujarat, Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal, the Orissa State Museum in Bhubaneswar, t h e
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