Lucknow bids a tearful adieu to its kathak gharana’s last maharaja Pandit Birju Maharaj

LUCKNOW: A part of Lucknow departed forever with the demise of Pandit Birju Maharaj on Monday morning, leaving a void that no one can fill.
While people from different walks of life paid rich tributes to the maestro with their fond memories, those touched by him remembered the magnanimity and magnificence of the last maharaja of Lucknow’s kathak gharana.
“There may be many kathak dancers, masters or exponents, but the last maharaja of kathak has departed,” remarked Purnima Pandey, former vice-chancellor of Bhatkhande deemed music university and chairperson of the UP Sangeet Natak Akademi.
Explaining the void created, she said: “First he immersed himself into kathak and became a maestro and then he carved a style that added immensely to the popularity of the dance form.”
Her list of reasons is long. “When he started, kathak lived by the book. The moves, songs, the music, all was fixed. But Pandit ji opened it up while keeping the traditional legacy in place and embraced the need for change. In this way, katha vachan became a duet which paved the way for ballets. The modern kathak choreography owes its genesis to this tradition,” she said.
Kathak danseuse Surabhi Singh, who is known for her kathak choreography, added: “His long, almost uncountable list of compositions (including tukda and tihais) is another reason that justifies the title of maharaja.”
Calling Pandit Birju Maharaj the master of navarasa, performer and teacher Kumkum Dhar said: “His face and eyes spoke for his perennial love for kathak which is greatly about bhava. The perfection with which he switched from being Krishna to Radha was effortless and amazing.”
Director of Lucknow Kathak Sansthan, Sarita Srivastava recalls that uniqueness of the guru-shishya parampara Birju Maharaj exemplified. “The maharaja of kathak was also a mahaguru who mentored his disciples with perfection. He would fondly explain the background of the piece in question which enabled the young dancers embrace the character in toto,” she said.
Hindustani folk singer Malini Awasthi said that despite being at the pinnacle of his form, Pandit Birju Maharaj was humility personified.
Recalling the days of ‘Taal Baad Kuchchery’ (a programme organized by Bhatkhande Music Institute in the 1980s), she said: “He sat in the front row to hear Pandit Rangnath Mishra who invited him on stage. Principal of Bhatkhande, Surendra Shankar Awasthi escorted him and asked him to join the august choir. I remember him saying, ‘You have a great artist for every instrument — pakhawaj, mridang, table, dholak — and a prodigious singer as well. What will I do?’ To that, someone from the green room prompted that the naal is still left and he smiled and accepted saying, ‘Okay then, I will play the naal’. And with excellence. That day, as a student of music I learnt that artistes must be as humble as him.”
Author Yatindra Mishra, whose biography on Pandit Birju Maharaj has been delayed because of the pandemic, said: “His connect with his dance form was so deep that at times it was difficult to decipher whether kathak lived inside him or was it something external.” Describing Birju Maharaj as kathak in motion, another author Pavan Jha said: “An electric and elastic body made for dancing and those delicate but moving eye and emphatic movements spoke for his exceptional communication through dance. The void will resonate with his memories for generations.”
A void none can fill: CM Yogi Adityanath
TNN
LUCKNOW: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath mourned the demise of kathak maestro Pandit Birju Maharaj.
“He brought laurels to his homeland Lucknow, his state UP and the entire country through his hard work and commitment to the dance form,” said an official statement citing the CM.
It added that the CM condoled the death of the 83 year-old exponent besides stating that his departure from the world of art and music has created a void none can fill.
Samajwadi Party chief and former CM Akhilesh Yadav took to social media to pay his tributes to Birju Maharaj. “His reverberating style will live perennially on the global stage,” Yadav said.