Odissi Exponent Minati Mishra Dies At 88 In Switzerland

Bhubaneswar: Renowned Odissi dancer Dr Minati Mishra passed away in Zurich, Switzerland on Monday. She was 88.

Born on 1929 in Cuttack, Mishra started learning Odissi dance and music at an early age under the tutelage of Kabichandra Kalicharan Patnayak, a known Odissi dancer, and under Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra, the late Odissi exponent.

In 1954, Mishra joined Kalakshetra of Rukmini Devi Arundale, on a scholarship from the Odisha government and learned Bharatanatyam for one year.

She was awarded a doctoral degree in Indology from the Philipp University of Marburg, Germany.

She also served as the principal of the Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya in Bhubaneswar from 1964 to 1989.

She had also acted in five Odia movies. The first among them, Suryamukhi, was released in 1963, followed by four more movies, Jeevan Sathi, Sadhana, Bhai Bhauja, and Arundhati. All the movies, except Bhai Bhauja, received the National Film Award for the best regional cinema. Mishra was also a Grade A artist at All India Radio and is a recipient of Sangeet Prabhakar title for Hindustani vocal music.

She was honoured with the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Kalinga Shastriya Sangeet Parishad Award and many more.

In 2012, she received the Padma Shri award.

Mishra is survived by her son Dr Sabitava Mishra.