Profile - Guru Pankaj Charan Das: A Life - Timeless and Boundless - Sutapa Patnaik

The role of Guru Pankaj Charan Das in the reawakening of Odisha’s ancient dance tradition is both fundamental and dominant. Although he garnered uncontested recognition for his contribution to the art world, a lesser known fact of this avant-garde guru is his effort to bring about a transformation in the social attitude towards dance and dancers. Guru Pankaj rose valiantly from the ashes of the sacred convention – of offering music and dance as a service to the Almighty – that had been incinerated by its own effulgence; and he became the first among the earliest of those that helped revive Odissi in the 20th century. Standing tall in his own merit, he constantly lent himself to various interpretations of resurrection, from artistic impulses to social awareness.

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