Raghurajpur is a Heritage village near Puri, Orissa. It is a unique village where every house has an artist. There are around 160 artists in this remote village. Raghurajpur is known worldwide for its Performing art Odissi, Gotipua dance (a unique dance form where boys dress up as girls and perform a classical dance to revere Lord Jagannath), and Pattachitra paintings.
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Gotipua and odissi dance raghurajpur
It is also known as the birthplace of one of the finest Odissi exponents and Guru, Kelucharan Mohapatra. Many performing artists are carrying forward this legacy proudly. Many accomplished artists in this village have international performances to their credit. They have performed in countries like ITALY, SPAIN, SWITZERLAND, SOUTH AFRICA, and many more.
COVID has badly hit these artists of Raghurajpur and they are compelled to sit at home without work. Their livelihood completely depends upon the tourists (as Raghurajpur is on the list of the must-visit places in Puri, Orissa, and the performances that they get, but due to COVID, they are finding it difficult to upkeep. They have no work for the past 3 months and all their performances have been canceled for the next 6 months. Imagine how they are surviving without any work when even people with secured jobs are getting jitters in this lockdown. “It was not too long ago when in May 2019 cyclone Fani devastated our village. All our Pattchitra artworks were destroyed which included months of hard work”, says Bhanupriya Nayak, Odissi guru, who belongs to the family of Pattachira artists.
How can we help: They are starting their first-ever Online Odissi Classes REVIVE, where we at Soul India and Beatspace Studio trying to make a small effort to support them. We are trying to connect them with the outside world through the digital platform. Let all of us help them create a sustainable model for their livelihood in these difficult times so that they can survive and keep their heads held high. Let humanity prevail!!
How to join their Online Odissi and Pattachitra classes: Please visit this link to learn more and enroll in their classes as a gesture of Support. https://thesoulindia.com/soulindia-initiative/
Please note: All the gurus in these online classes are accomplished artists who have international performances to their credit. They have performed in countries like ITALY, SPAIN, SWITZERLAND, SOUTH AFRICA, and many more.
Please listen to Bhanupriya Nayak’s request- an Odissi guru from Raghurajpur. Check her speak on the COVID situation in Raghurajpur.
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Pattachitra Artist Showing His Work in Raghurajpur
You can watch the live demo session recording that we conducted with Pattachitra artists and Odissi Gurus directly streamed from Raghurajpur, Orissa.
