God’s own children
The legend of the Gotipua dancers is very much alive in the artisan town of Raghurajpur, Odisa writes
AS the dust settles soon after the bus screeches to a halt, the music begins. The sound of the (a double reed wind classical instrument) fills the air as elaborately made-up little girls garbed in traditional bright-coloured blouses with shiny embellishments and an apronlike embroidered silk cloth tied around their tiny waists called rush to greet us with garlands.
Her heavily khol-lined eyes peer into mine as she smiles hesitantly, her hands outstretched with a garland. Gesturing for me to bend, she raises herself on her toes and carefully slings her circlet of yellow marigolds around my neck. Another little girl reaches out surreptitiously to smear a
on my forehead from her tray of vermillion paste made out of red ochre powder and sandalwood paste.
It’s a greeting worthy of dignitaries, I muse aloud, half-embarrassed at the attention we’re receiving. Curious onlookers come out of their homes and stare at us. My guide Saroj Kumar agrees. “Garlands and the are used to honour guests when they arrive. Indians believe in the Sanskrit saying meaning “Guest is God”. Since the Gods are honoured with flower garlands and great aplomb, so are our guests!” he says loudly, trying to make himself heard above the cacophony of sounds that surround us.
Welcome to Raghurajpur. The journey to this artisan village located on the banks of river Bhargabi in the Puri district is slightly more than an hour’s drive from Bhubaneswar, the capital of the Indian state of Odisha. Home to over 300 artisans who’ve learnt and continue to practise various traditional art forms handed down over the generations, they reside in each of the 100 or so brilliantly painted yet modest households, which face one another.
A series of temples dedicated to local gods and courtyards occupy the lane between the homes. Here in Raghurajpur, worship and the arts are indistinguishable from one another — each breathes life and gives meaning to the other.
On the invitation of Sutra Foundation and Odisha Tourism, I’m here with a group of journalists in this northern state on India’s east coast to not only watch Sutra Dance Theatre perform the — an Odissi dance choreography — at the Konark Dance Festival, one of the biggest dance festivals in India, but to experience the significance of India’s ancient dance form in the land where it originated.
Sutra Dance Theatre, established by doyen of dance, Datuk Ramli Ibrahim, has over the last few decades cultivated,