| 1924 |
Born in village Raghurajpur, district Puri, Orissa, to Chintamani Mohapatra, a chitrakara painter, and Siri Nani (1926 in official documents) |
| 1929 |
He joins the akhada of guru Balabhadra Sahu and continues training in gotipua dance for three years. |
| 1932 |
He joins the ras leela troupe of guru Mohansundar Dev Goswami in Puri and gradually becomes his most trusted disciple |
| 1941 |
Kelucharan's father passes away. |
| 1942 |
He leaves the ras leela party and works for about one year in the paan fields near Chandanpur for about 20-25 paisa a day. He also works for a month in Cuttack singing sankirtan for Banamali Sahu, a zamindar suffering from leprosy. |
| 1943 |
He joins the Orissa Theatres at Cuttack founded by Kalicharan Pattanayak and remains for a little less than one year. His salary is of Rs 7/- a month |
| 1945 |
He joins as director of the Radhakant Ras Party at Puri with a salary of Rs. 300/- a month and stages nataka Meerabai, his maiden directorial debut. |
| 1946 |
He joins the newly formed Annapurna B group at Cuttack for a salary of Rs.15/- a month and makes his debut as a dancer in the role of Mahadev in the nataka "Devi". |
| 1947 |
He dances for the first time the item Dashavatara in duet with female dancer Laxmipriya for the nataka Sadhava Jhia. The dance sequence is directed by Pankaj Charan Das. |
| 1948 |
Guru Mohansunder Dev Goswami passes away.
Kelucharan choreographes his first dance number for the nataka "Aloka" to be danced by Laxmipriya. The dance is in a mixed style of Manipuri, Odissi and Kathak and it is composed according to the teaching received from Dayal Sharana.
Kelucharan marries Laxmipriya and both leave the Annapurna B group. |
| 1949 |
The couple, after a brief stint at the Annapurna A group, settle down at Cuttack. Kelucharan composes dances for the Rupashree and Janata theatres where Laxmipriya is much in demand as an actress and dancer. |
| 1950 |
By now he has started to teach dance to few female dancers not associated with theatre. First students are: Sanjukta, Minati, Sadhana, Meera and Jayanti. |
| 1952 |
Babulal Joshi starts the Kala Vikash Kendra at Cuttack. First teacher is Mayadhar Rout who shares a room with Kelucharan and his family. |
| 1953 |
Kelucharan joins as teacher at the Kala Vikash Kendra. With him most of his private students also join the Kendra. He teaches on a regular basis up to 1965. His salary starts from Rs 20/- and over the years increases up to Rs 250/- per month.
Sanjukta performs first Odissi program outside the State during the third annual function of the Children's Little Theatre at Calcutta. |
| 1955 |
"Sakhi Gopal", the first dance drama entirely composed in Odissi style is choreographed jointly by Kelucharan and Pankaj Babu and presented at Delhi for the Industrial Fair. |
| 1956 |
Kelucharan conducts the recital of Priyambada for the third Inter-university youth festival in Delhi in which she wins the first prize. |
| 1957 |
Jayantika is formed at Cuttack by a group of scholars and gurus including Dev Prasad Das, Pankaj Babu and Kelucharan for the purpose of systematising the Odissi dance form. |
| 1958 |
In January Kelucharan presents Sanjukta's dance during the All India Dance Seminar at Madras as part of the 31st Conference of the Music Academi. In April he accompanies Jayanti's dance at the All India Dance Seminar organised by Sangeet Natak Academi at New Delhi. On both the occasions Kalicharan Patnaik reads a paper on Odissi. |
| 1959 |
Kelucharan contracts tuberculosis. He has to abstain from work for about 6 months.. In the meantime the meetings of Jayantika slowly come to an end. |
| 1961 |
Kelucharan accompanies Priyambada's dance at Sapru House in Delhi. On this occasion she dances eleven dance pieces all presented in separate sequences.
He buys a piece of land in Cuttack for Rs. 1500/- and over a period of four years, builds his house. |
| 1964 |
Kelucharan gets sick with high fever after overworking himself for the rehearsals of Krishna Leela to be presented at Bombay by KVK |
| 1965 |
Ratikanta, Kelucharan's son, is born. The entire family shifts to the newly constructed house at Samanta Sahi at Cuttack. |
| 1966 |
Kelucharan gets the Sangeet Natak Academi award for Odissi dance |
| 1967 |
He participates in the Seminar on Gita Govinda in Delhi jointly organised by Sangeet Natak Academi and Lalit Kala Academi with two new ashtapadsi danced by Kumkum Das. On special request he gives a demonstration on the next day, this being his first demonstration of Gita Govinda outside the State.
He accompanies Sanjukta as part of an Indian dance delegation to Russia in his first trip to a foreign country. |
| 1968 |
1968 He accompanies Sonal Mansingh in a series of eight shows in Madras; the first one, at the Museum Theatre, is attended by Rukmini Devi. |
| 1969 |
He starts conducting summer courses at Kala Vikas Kendra, which are attended by local as well as outside students.
He starts teaching for a few months at a stretch at Nritya Niketan, a school started by Hare Krishna Behera at Delhi.
Kelucharan and Sonal are invited to perform at Kala Kshetra in Madras. |
| 1974 |
He teaches for few months at a stretch at Triveni Kala Sangam in New Delhi.
He receives the Padmashri award.
He choreographs the Hindi version of the Gita Govinda with music by Pandit Jasraj in Bombay. |
| 1975 |
He comes back to the stage by playing the role of Bisu Maharana in the ballet Konarka staged at Cuttack. |
| 1979 |
He starts conducting condensed courses of one month duration at Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in New Delhi. He performs on stage the ashtapadi 'Priye Charusheele'; this marks the re-emergence of Kelucharan as performer. In the next two decades memorable performances on stage were to follow. |
| 1980 |
He starts conducting condensed courses of one month duration at Padatik Dance Center in Calcutta |
| 1981 |
Doctorate from Akhila Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal He starts conducting condensed courses of one month duration at National Center for Performing Arts at Bombay. He dances for the first time two ashtapadsi in duet with Kumkum Das during a performance at Benares. |
| 1982 |
He participates to his first Festival of India in London with Sanjukta. |
| 1984 |
He joins Odissi Research Center at Bhubaneswar, headed by Kumkum Mohanty for an initial honorarium of Rs 4000/- per month. He is attached to the center up to 1993. |
| 1987 |
He is conferred with the Kalidasa award by the Madhya Pradesh Government. He shifts from Cuttack residence to government accommodation in Bhubaneswar. |
| 1988 |
He gets the Padma Bhushan award from Government of India.
Kalidas Samman, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
| 1989 |
Nrutya Kovidam, Nrityagram, Bangalore
He suffers his first mild hearth attack and is admitted to the intensive care unit of the Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar. |
| 1990 |
Nrutya Sangam, Calcutta Rajya Sainik Board
He undergoes a triple by-pass surgery at Birla Heart Centre in Calcutta. A film on him 'Bhavantaranam' is made by Kumar Sahani. |
| 1991 |
Ratna Sadasya Award, Central Sangeet Natak Akademy |
| 1993 |
After serving the institution for a period of 9 years, He left the Odissi Research Centre and moved to his own house and started his institution, by the name of Srjan, Odissi Nrityabasa. |
| 1994 |
Nrutya Saraswati Samman, Balakrushna Das Foundation, Bhubaneswar |
| 1995 |
He receives the title of 'Officer of the Order of Art and Culture' from the French Ministry of Culture.
Shri Jagannath Puraskar, Nikhila Utakala Sangeet Shilpi Parishada
The Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award was instituted in honour of the vast body of Guruji's work. |
| 1996 |
Sardar Santokh Singh Memorial Integration Award, National Integration of Youth Association, Bhubaneswar.
Art Award, Orissa Society of New England
Nrutya Sudha Award, Michigan, USA
He receives Dr B.C.Roy National Award instituted by the Medical Council of India |
| 1997 |
Sabari Samman, Parava, Koraput |
| 1998 |
Aditya Bikram Birla Kala Sikhara Puraskar, Sangeet Kalakendra, Mumbai |
| 1999 |
Tulaseevanam Award, Tulaseevanam Trust, Kerla |
| 2000 |
He receives the Padma Vibhushan award from Government of India. |
| 2001 |
Shrimant Shankardev Award, Govt. of Assam
Sanjukta Panigrahi Memorial Award, Sanjukta Panigrahi Memorial Trust, Bhubaneswar
Dr. Harekrushna Mahatab Samman, State Mahatab Committee, Bhubaneswar
He completes the construction of a small temple for goddess Bhuasuni in his native village Ragurajpur.and performs the inauguration rituals. |
| 2002 |
He receives the Gupta award from the Gupta Foundation of Elluru.
Nitai Palit Award, Chalachitra Jagat, Cuttack
Nrutya Ratna, Prachhena Kala Kendra, Chandigarh
Rajib Gandhi Foundation Awad, Bhubaneswar
Singhari Smruti Samman, Shyam Sunder Sangeet Mahavidyalaya
OMPTWA Award, Orissa Motion Picture Technician and Woker's Association, Cuttack |
| 2003 |
Prananath Sangeet Samman, Praggyan Tirtha Prananath Mahavidyalaya, Khurda, Orissa
Bharatiyam Award, EZCC, Kolkata
Shilpi Shiromani Award, Odissi Nrutya Mandal, Bhubaneswar
Lifetime achievement Award, 2nd International Odissi Festival, Washington DC, USA
Seva Ratna Samman, South Kolkata Krida O Sanskritika Parishada
He receives the 'Commendeur dans l'Ordre des Arts et Des Letters' from the Ministry of Culture, Government of France.
Sanskruti Samman, Orissa Juba Chetana Sangathana |
| 2004 |
Utkala Baraputra Samman, Rotary International, Bhubaneswar
Kala Kaustava Samman, Saptaswari Kalakshetra, Bhubaneswar
Utkala Samman, Orissa Festival, Kolkata
He passes away on the 7th of April, due to a massive heart attack |
