About
Ranjana Gauhar is an eminent Odissi dancer, choreographer, scholar and teacher, honoured with the Padma Shri. Founder of the Utsav Educational and Cultural Society, she has performed, choreographed and researched Odissi and its temple and devotional heritage across a long and distinguished career in India and abroad.
Trained in Odissi under gurus including Mayadhar Raut and Kelucharan Mohapatra, Ranjana Gauhar rose as a leading exponent, choreographer and scholar of the form. She founded the Utsav Educational and Cultural Society to promote the arts, has authored works on Indian dance and temple traditions, performed at major festivals in India and internationally, and received the Padma Shri among other honours.
The artistry
Gauhar dances in the lyrical, sculpturesque Odissi tradition, drawing on temple lore, devotional poetry and the form's classical repertoire, and is known for thematic and research-based choreography as well as pure recital. A scholar and author as well as a performer, she has documented and disseminated Odissi widely.
[Atlas Perspective] Ranjana Gauhar is a Padma Shri Odissi dancer, choreographer and scholar of real distinction. For flagship festivals and heritage programmes, she is a strong choice.
Ranjana Gauhar is among the distinguished exponents who carried Odissi to national and global prominence, combining performance with choreography, scholarship and institution-building to sustain the form and its temple heritage.