Deba Prasad Das was an Indian classical dancer, considered by critics and connoisseurs as one of the four first generation gurus of the Indian classical dance form of
Odissi
Odissi (), also referred to as Orissi in old literature, is a major ancient Indian classical dance that originated in the temples of Odisha – an eastern coastal state of India. He was a recipient of the 1977 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. and 1974 Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
Biography
Deba Prasad Das was born in 1932 in a Karana family at a small village near Cuttack called Keul Chabi Sua, in the Indian state of Odisha to Indramani Devi and Durga Charan Das, a police officer. He lost his mother at an early age and was brought up by his grandfather who was a local violin player. Das did his early schooling at Puri and started picking up music and dance at the age of six from a nearby traditional school (Pathara
Akhara
Akhara or Akhada ( Sanskrit and Hindi: अखाड़ा, shortened to ''khara'' Hindi: खाड़ा) is an Indian word for a place of practice with facilities for boarding, lodging and training, both in the context of Indian martial artist ...
) run by Mohan Chandra Mohapatra. However, he had to move to Behrampur when his father was transferred there.
When Das was 14, his father sent him to the music school of Radha Raman Ray, a music director working with ''New Theatres''. He worked there for a monthly salary of approximately 3 plus food and assisted the performers in the green room. Soon, he worked his way up as a gate man, a ticket collector and finally as a prompter. The break came when Guru
Pankaj Charan Das
Guru Pankaj Charan Das (1919-2003) was an Indian classical dancer, choreographer and the ''Ādi Guru'' of Odissi dance. He is known as the 'Father of Odissi dance'.
Life
He was the adopted son of a ''mahari'' (temple dancer) Ratna Prabha De ...
and later, Moha Mohapatra started associating themselves with the New theatre and Das got a small role, appearing only at the beginning of the dance cramas. Later, when New Theatres closed down in 1949, he moved to ''Annapurna'' and worked there for a few years where he had the opportunity to work alongside the renowned Odissi exponents such as
Pankaj Charan Das
Guru Pankaj Charan Das (1919-2003) was an Indian classical dancer, choreographer and the ''Ādi Guru'' of Odissi dance. He is known as the 'Father of Odissi dance'.
Life
He was the adopted son of a ''mahari'' (temple dancer) Ratna Prabha De ...
,
Kelucharan Mohapatra
Kelucharan Mohapatra (8 January 1926 – 7 April 2004) was a legendary Indian classical dancer, guru, and exponent of Odissi dance, who is credited with the revival and popularizing of this classical dance form in the 20th century.
He is ...
, Kumar Dayal Sharan and
Mayadhar Raut
Guru Mayadhar Raut (born 6 July 1930) is an Indian classical Odissi dancer, choreographer and Guru.
Early life and background
Raut was born in the village Kantapenhara a Ahir family in Cuttack district, subsequently he received his dance trai ...
. Annapurna also became defunct by 1953 by which time Deb Das had already mastered the dance form of Odissi.
The next move was to ''Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya'', a school of dance music, where Das joined as a faculty member for Odissi in 1964. Here, he tutored
Indrani Rahman
Indrani Rahman (19 September 1930, Chennai – 5 February 1999, New York) was an Indian classical dancer of Bharata Natyam, Kuchipudi, Kathakali and Odissi, which she popularised in the west, and later settled in New York in 1976.
In 1952, ...
a
Bharatanatyam
Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of S ...
dancer at that time, whom he taught
Odissi
Odissi (), also referred to as Orissi in old literature, is a major ancient Indian classical dance that originated in the temples of Odisha – an eastern coastal state of India. and the association with Rahman brought Das into public notice when the Rahman took her
guru
Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...
along with her for concerts. In 1957, Indrani Rahman presented an Odissi demonstration choreographed by Deba Prasad Das at the Dance Festival and this performance is reported to have assisted Odissi to be taken notice as a classical dance form. Later, in the same year, Rahman made her debut performance of Odissi at a show witnessed by
Kapila Vatsyayan
Kapila Vatsyayan (25 December 1928 – 16 September 2020) was a leading scholar of Indian classical dance, art, architecture, and art history. She served as a member of parliament and bureaucrat in India, and also served as the founding direc ...
, Charles Fabri and others, and this is known to have brought the Deba Das style of Odissi into public notice.'Sabda Swara Pata' is an important feature of this style of Odissi.
Das, a representative of ''Gotipua'' Odissi culture and considered by many as one of the four first generation
gurus
Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan- Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverenti ...
of Odissi, is known to be founder of the ''Deba Prasad Gharana''. He had many disciples such as
Indrani Rahman
Indrani Rahman (19 September 1930, Chennai – 5 February 1999, New York) was an Indian classical dancer of Bharata Natyam, Kuchipudi, Kathakali and Odissi, which she popularised in the west, and later settled in New York in 1976.
In 1952, ...
, Bijayalaxmi Mohanty, Oopali Operajita, Pushpa Mahanti, Srinath Raut, Sudhakar Sahoo, Durga Charan Ranbir, Dhuleswar Behera, Anita Singhdeo, Sangeeta Dash, Sujata Mishra, Ramli Ibrahim, Gajendra Panda, Manoj Behera, Gopa Biswhas, Gayatri Chand, Atashi Tripathy are among many others who have emerged as noted exponents of Odissi. Notable
Bharatanatyam
Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of S ...
guru
Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...
Leela Ramanathan had also taken Odissi training under him. He has also choreographed many dance dramas and solo numbers.
Deba Prasad Das died on 16 July 1986, aged 54.
Awards and recognitions
Recipient of Senior Research Fellowship from the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...
, Deba Prasad Das also received the World Development Corporation award in 1983 and the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1974.
Sangeet Natak Akademi
Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India.
History
It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and ...
honored him with their annual award in 1977. A book on him and his work "Guru Debaprasad Das: Icon of Odissi" was authored by Gayatri Chand, a senior dancer of Deba Prasad Das style, after 25 years of his demise in 2012.
See also
*
Odissi
Odissi (), also referred to as Orissi in old literature, is a major ancient Indian classical dance that originated in the temples of Odisha – an eastern coastal state of India.Indrani Rahman
Indrani Rahman (19 September 1930, Chennai – 5 February 1999, New York) was an Indian classical dancer of Bharata Natyam, Kuchipudi, Kathakali and Odissi, which she popularised in the west, and later settled in New York in 1976.
In 1952, ...