Shraddhanjali to Guru Kelucharan

 Mohapatra

7th May 2004

Smitalay held a very simple but sincere shraddhanjali to our great Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra in the ground floor hall of Sane Guruji Arogya Mandir. The programme started at 7 PM. To our very pleasant surprise the hall was completely packed and there were people watching from out side  the hall and whatever corners they could find inside the hall.  

Sudhatai, the seniormost member of the committee offering flowers to Guruji

The programme aptly started with Guru Vandana, during which students of Smitalay paid their respects by offering flowers to Guruji’s footprint. A shraddhanjali to the great ‘Kelu sar’ would not be complete without an offering of dance. So the first thing after Guru Vandana was a token dance performance by the students and faculty of Smitalay.

Three personalities who have known Guruji for a long time were invited to speak. We had Shri K. Subhas Chandran (ex-cultural director NCPA), Smt. Kanak Rele (Principal, Nalanda), and film maker Kumar Shahani.

Book Release

K. Subhas Chandran, Kanak Rele, Kumar Shahani, Jhelum Paranjape

Smitalay released a small booklet filled with memories of Guruji by students and admirers of his. Our apologies, we had only 100 copies of the book on that particular day. If you want to get a copy of that book, get in touch with us. 

The best bit of the programme was a small documentary film on Guruji. Mr. Siddharth Kak of "Surabhi" was very kind to come forward and help us by showing a small film on Guruji made for Surabhi.

Links :

Kelubabu, the Olympiam of Odissi

The other Devdas

National treasure and beloved mentor:  
Tribute to Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra 

Guruji in Wikipedia : Click Here