Odisha is often celebrated for its rich and living cultural legacy—from the exquisite Pattachitra paintings and the vibrant appliqué craft of Pipli, to the timeless elegance of Sambalpuri saris, the legendary artistry of Kelucharan Mohapatra, and the enduring grace of the Gotipua dance tradition.
Gotipua is a traditional dance form historically linked to the famous Puri Jagannath Temple as it developed around it. The dance tradition is believed to have emerged between the 16th and 18th centuries, when the older temple dance tradition performed by female dancers declined. (Wikipedia helped us with this nugget of information)
To continue the ritual and the performance traditions connected with temple culture, young boys were trained to dance and perform in female costume. These boys were called “Goti pua”. Goti meaning “single” and pua meaning “boy”.
The very idea --young boys being trained to embody a tradition built on delicate expression and feminine grace challenged everything we thought we knew about how classical dance is learned, performed and even imagined!
When we first heard about Gotipua we smiled politely—and quietly doubted it--young boys, dressed and trained to perform with such softness and lyrical grace? It sounded almost too extraordinary to be true!
And then we watched a performance! The moment the music began and the young boys stepped onto the stage, disbelief gave way to wonder. The dancers’ movements flowed like silk in the air, every gesture shaped with care, every glance alive with emotion. Strength hid behind tenderness, discipline shimmered beneath ease, and what we had imagined as novelty revealed itself as pure artistry.
We had come curious.
We stayed spellbound.
Sharing few pictures and videos of a live Gotipua performance in Puri, Odisha recently.
Next video shows the Invocation, prayers for the Gods to bless the dancers and the world around them.
We thank Kashi and Madhu Mitra for arranging an exclusive performance of Gotipua for our BITS Batch Reunion in Puri recently. It was so inspiring to see the boys pursuing their school studies as well as learn this unique dance form at the Gurukul in Raghurajpur village. In fact their Gurus (teacher-cum-mentor) also accompanied the boys to the venue. he could be seen with the live music team on the left in one of the pictures above.
The teacher later revealed that out of the six, only one dancer was a girl. Although Gotipua has been traditionally learnt and performed by boys dressed as girls, the Gurukul at Raghurajpur broke from the tradition and has trained girls (if they are physically fit) to perform alongside the boys. Talk of gender equality in India! This is the finest example we can think of. Can you guess which Gotipua dancer is the only girl in the picture below?
Bet you couldn't guess it right! She is the 5th dancer from the left standing in the front row. Beaten? Zoom the picture and focus on the feet of the dancers. All of them are wearing ghunghroos whereas only one dancer is wearing a silver payal in addition!
We all thanked the Gotipua team and gave them a standing ovation.
Thanks are also due to Padma Ramesh for her research and editorial support. She had earlier written a guest story on Iceland which can be browsed here.
Other Indian Dance Forms
Readers may browse our earlier story on Indian dance forms. The picture story which was created to commemorate the World Dance Day, shows various dance forms across the states of India. It also has few PQs-- picturesque quotes superimposed on pictures shot by Ghumakkad -- like the one reproduced below. "Dance is the hidden language of the soul", said Martha Graham famously.
Dances of India and Overseas - experience the dance forms across India as well as the UAE and East Africa.
Feel free to add to the above story.
