RESEARCH & DOCUMENTATION THAT CRITICALLY EXAMINES HOW ARTISTIC TRADITIONS ARE CONSTRUCTED OR REINVENTED

ABSTRACT In striving to discover the genuine and original portions of our great epic The Mahabharata, out of whose final form of 1,00,000 verses, only 24,000 seem to bear the stamp of originality of Vyasa, Sri Aurobindo, in his The Mahabharata: Essays & Translation s , observes that, “One is struck in perusing the Mahabharata by the presence of a mass of poetry which bears the style and impress of a single, strong and original, even 1 unusual mind” Such may be said in unanimity regarding the vast body of work in Odissi dance created by Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra as well. Because, the classical dances of India, and therefore Kelubabu’s compositions, are not just poetry in motion but are indeed poetry i each is set to. n motion in response to the music The practice of Indian classical dance should lead the dancer from outside herself to within, physically, emotionally and spiritually, and it is to be able to achieve this, that the repertoire of every clas sical form is structured as such. The Odissi repertoire too, as structured by Kelubabu, begins with Mangalacharan, an invocation by the dancer/devotee at the entrance to the temple, proceeds to circumambulate the temple structure depicting the exquisite b eauty in various bhangis sculpted on the temple walls through Batu, then advancing through the Natya Mandapa with the joyous Pallavi, enters the Garbha griha with the selfreflective Abhinaya, an Ashatapadi wherein she is in private conversation with her Lord, finally leading to Moshya Nata, the dance of liberation. Thus, the repertoire leads the dancer from collective external consciousness to singular internal consciousness such that in Mokshya Nata a moment of absolute peace and stillness is reached when the dancer is in total union while in movement with her Atma or soul within.Funded by ICH Grant 2014-15 from Ministry of Culture, Government of Indi