SHAlINI SAKSENA speaks to Guru Chittaranjan Malia about how Gotipua is an art form from Puri and that the dance is done by a group of boys who enact a dance drama on the life of Radha and Krishna
In Odiya ‘got’ means single and ‘pua’ means boy. So the literal translation of the word gotipua is — dance by small boys. For centuries, this dance form has been performed in Odisha by young boys who dress up like women and dance praising lord Jagannath and lord Krishna.
To begin with, this dance style was performed in an acrobatic figure that was inspired by the life of Radha-Krishna. These young boys start learning this style at a very young age and continue to dance till they are in their teens. But once they start loosing their part woman, part boy look, other younger boys take their place.
Guru Chittaranjan Malia tells you that the reason for this is simple. “Young boys have feminine traits, a must for gotipua. Their bodies are young and have a girlish charm which the audience liked. Since girls were not allowed to dance in those days, boys were taught. But it became more prevalent when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, wanted dance troupes to perform in the procession of lord Jagannath,” Malia explains.
The reason why girls were not taught was obvious. First, the dance was an offering for the lord. Second, the dance style was more of an acrobatic form that dance. Boys were more suited for this style.
One is also told that once the boys hit puberty, they are no longer part of gotipua. This is because the performers have to sing live too. A soft lady-life voice is needed. This is only possible in boys under 13.
The gotipua dance is Odissi style, but their technique, costumes and presentation differ from those of the mahari — a ritualistic dance performed at lord Jagannath’s temple.
Malia tells you that while this dance form originated in Puri, the present Odissi dance didn’t take its professional form till after 1950.
It was in the late 50s and early 60s when dancers like Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, Guru Devprakash Das and Guru Pankaj Charan Das decided to merge two dance styles — gotipua and mahari to give birth to what we call as modern-day Odishi dance. In one sense, Odishi dance that you see today, is an off-shoot of gotipua,” Malia says.
The reason why Raghurajpur, which is 15 km away from Puri became famous for gotipua is because it is the birthplace of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra (a gotipua himself), who is credited for the revival of the classical dance form in the 20th century. He is the first person to get Padma Vibhushan from Odisha.