Eminent Odissi Exponent Bidyut Kumari Choudhury Passes Away at 67

19 March, Bhubaneswar

Legendary Odissi exponent and former principal of Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, the premier institute for drama, dance and performing arts in Odisha, Dr Bidyut Kumari Choudhury passed away Wednesday night at her residence here. She was 67.

Dr Bidyut Kumari Choudhury died of cardiac arrest. She is survived by her only son Subhendu Mohapatra who works in the IT industry in Singapore. Her husband, tabla guru Chandrasekhar Mohapatra had predeceased her by almost a decade ago

She was disciple of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, Padmashri Pankaj Charan Das, Guru Deva Prasad Das and Dr Minati Mishra.

An artist of international repute, she has performed in many programmes across the state and country. She has also accompanied late Sanjukta Panigrahi on many of her dance programmes.

She has penned books on Odissi dance in English as well as Odia.

An alumnus of Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, Choudhury was a student of Odissi dance in the first batch (1964) of the college. After completing her degree, she joined the college as a lecturer and later became the head of the department of Odissi dance.

In 1998, she was promoted as the principal of the premier institute Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, the premier institute for drama, dance and performing arts in Odisha, Bhubaneswar.