Amid tough times for classical arts, Aurangabad's Mahagami Gurukul remains reassuring presence

Amid tough times for classical arts,

Aurangabad's Mahagami Gurukul remains reassuring presence

Lakshmi Sreeram |  13 Aug 2022

The centre's continued and sensitive growth is a matter of concern for all of us. Highlights The calendar at Mahagami is busy with classes, immersive workshops, seminars and performance festivals dotting the year, not to speak of regular dance and music concerts. In all this, students are often at the forefront in organising and taking care of logistics of the presentation. More than 2,000 have passed through its portals as students.

Cobbled pathways winding under a lush green canopy of gulmohars, neems and banyans quietly open into a forested sanctuary for a Buddha or a Saraswati, or lead into an amphitheatre, a practice hall, a performance space. Tranquillity hangs in the air and each space is at peace with the other, at the Mahagami Gurukul in the Mahatma Gandhi Mission University, Aurangabad. The beauty of the architecture and layout are what hit the visitor first; the serious work in the performing arts that goes on in the gurukul under the leadership of Guru Parwati Dutta reveals itself later — quietly.

Parwati Dutta was a young and promising dancer when she decided to move to Aurangabad at an invitation from the Mahatma Gandhi Mission to start a centre based on the guru-shishya parampara system of transmitting dance education. Shri Ankushrao Kadam, a trustee of the mission, was inspired by centres like the Dhrupad Kendra at Bhopal that nurtured students in the guru-shishya model and wanted a similar centre at MGM. At his behest, 26 years ago, Dutta decided to take the plunge to chart her unique journey — leaving Delhi, which was the more obvious place for a young dancer to pursue a career in performance. She was well regarded even then as a meritorious dancer in both Kathak and Odissi under the wings of Pt Birju Maharaj, Guru Madhavi Mudgal and Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra.

Raised in Bhopal, she had to move to Delhi for the best dance education. Based on her own lived experience, she saw the need to take dance and other performing arts to smaller towns. Mahagami, the name of the centre she has created, is an acronym of Mahatma Gandhi Mission and, simultaneously, a gesture towards the great journey (maha gamana) that an artist embarks upon, indeed that every person, conscious of her destiny, could embark upon should she choose to.
"When I first came to Aurangabad, there was nothing — there wasn't even awareness about the classical arts. I had to work at everything, beginning with sensitising people about the performing arts. I tried to understand the community's ways of thinking, their priorities, prejudices, and fears." After tireless campaigns and public outreach programmes, regular dance classes, programmes, seminars, workshops etc. the Gurukul is now well recognised and respected not only in Aurangabad but also nationally and globally.
Today, more than 2,000 have passed through its portals as students of the dance classes that offer certificate and diploma as well as the Bachelor of Performing Arts course in both Odissi and Kathak. Other related courses offered are study of the Natyasastra, theatre and dance appreciation, a Diploma in Dhrupad etc. As a dancer, Parwati Dutta has created a body of work that seeks to connect with past practices and repertoire while offering contemporary expression. Even before her Aurangabad journey, Dutta sought to look into the history and recreate older performing traditions. One such effort is Dhrupad nritya that Dutta has renamed Dhrupadaangi. According to Dutta, this is a form of Kathak patronised by Man Singh Tomar that was performed to the music of Dhrupad. Man Singh Tomar, who ruled from Gwalior in the 16th century, is reputed to have been a great patron of music — Dhrupad in particular. With a deep appreciation of the Dhrupad musical exploration, Parwati Dutta has produced, through creative collaboration with Dhrupad musicians, several dance productions to the music of aalap, jod jhala-bandish presentation of Dhrupad.


As for Odissi, Dutta observes that while reinventing the Odissi dance form by drawing from ancient performing practices in various parts of Orissa, gurus like Kelucharan Mahapatra and others have shown a path, but there is much work to be done to absorb practices, traditions and repertoire that have not been touched by the revival. For example, Dutta says that Southern Orissa has a tala system that is much closer to the Carnatic tradition and has an interesting repertoire that needs to be identified and brought into the mainstream. So also, while swara pallavi has been at the heart of an Odissi performance for decades now, the neglected genre of vadya pallavi, which is inspired by the rich percussive traditions of Orissa, needs to be revived and adopted into contemporary presentations. At Mahagami the past is constantly being evoked and brought into relevance in performance. Nirgeet, for example, brought together various dancers whose presentations drew upon the purva ranga vidhi as detailed in the fifth chapter of the Natyasastra. The calendar at Mahagami is busy with classes, immersive workshops, seminars and performance festivals dotting the year, not to speak of regular dance and music concerts. And in all this, students are often at the forefront in organising and taking care of the logistics of the presentation. During a recent visit there, I saw students conducting the music ensemble for fellow students' performances, students performing demanding pieces despite a high fever, despite a tragic bereavement. They seem to have imbibed a deep sense of purpose and commitment to the art — the beginning of a journey. Building an institution is a task few are equal to. Slowly and diligently, under the guidance of Parwati Dutta and with support from the MGM, Mahagami Gurukul has gained recognition and respect and is branching into other areas such as Musicology and Indology. How it keeps pace with these and other ambitious projects is a matter of deep interest and concern to its well-wishers. Induction of new faculty is necessary — a course like MA in Musicology needs full-time faculty and for a small institution, growing in this direction harmoniously is a challenge, especially since performing arts are being taught here while also trying to maintain a certain ethos.


The National Education Policy has left many arts educators dismayed and Dutta is no exception. According to the NEP, courses are to be structured so as to allow for multiple exits with proportionate skills imparted. So, a four-year BPA course in say, Odissi dance, must allow for students to exit at the end of the first, or second or third year and they should have gained something. Again, a course in the arts is compulsory for all students of all disciplines — which of necessity cannot but be superficial. How will an institution like Mahagami, which seeks to impart education with an intensity demanded by our traditional performing arts cope with this situation? When the very premise of the institution resounds in the word Mahagami — the great sojourner — how will short courses, a few uncertain steps, fit with the vision? Again, the tremendous pull and appeal of popular music and reality shows threaten to jeopardise the core value of sadhana that drive classical arts. Classical music/dance and popular music/dance aren't equal competitors and should not be made to play in the same arena. The classical arts need special nourishment and care without having to offer a democratic vindication. These are tough times for the classical arts and the very existence of an institution like Mahagami is reassuring. Its continued and sensitive growth is a matter of concern for all of us.