Kathak Legend Pandit Birju Maharaj Passes Away; ‘Tried To Incorporate Maths Into Dance’

New Delhi: Kathak legend Pandit Birju Maharaj passed away at his residence here late Sunday following a heart attack. He was 83.

According to reports, Birju Maharaj was playing with his grandsons when his health deteriorated.

“He was under treatment for the past month. He had sudden breathlessness at around 12:15-12:30 am last night; we brought him to the hospital within 10 mins, but he passed away,” Ragini Maharaj, Birju Maharaj’s granddaughter, told ANI.

The Kathak exponent had been suffering from a kidney ailment and was undergoing dialysis.

Awarded the Padma Vibhushan, he was fondly called Panditji or Maharajji by his disciples and followers.

The Indian Express recalled one of his chats with the paper last year. “An artiste expresses his deepest emotions through his art, be it dance, music or visual art forms. I express in the best way I feel inspired to and am blessed to have been able to wear these different hats of a dancer, singer, poet and painter. It just comes to me naturally and is effortless. I am just the channel through which all this flows,” he had told the paper.

“I have tried to incorporate mathematics and numbers into the dance form so that children can easily connect to the difficult intricacies of Kathak,” he told the paper on how the dance form had evolved with age.