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Bhagabat Padhan
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Culture & heritage · Odisha

Bhaga Mastre and his 600 dancers

Bhagabat Padhan had a secure government job. He left it for a little-known dance tradition from his part of Odisha, and spent half a century making sure it would outlive him.

Bhagabat Padhanभगबत पधान
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Bhagabat Padhan. Photo: via Odisha News Times

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Born
24 June 1938
Place
Kumbhari, Bargarh district, Odisha
Tradition
Sabda Nrutya, a mythology-based dance
Honour
Padma Shri 2024 (Art)
600+artists trained (Padma citation)
1974becomes Sabda Nrutya Guru
2024Padma Shri

Leaving a safe job

Bhagabat Padhan is counted among the leading gurus of Odisha’s Sabda Nrutya, which his Padma citation describes as an ancient, mythology-based dance form. His life begins with an unusual choice. After Class VII he got a government job as a teacher in the Education Department, but his pull towards the art was so strong that he left it to join the Brajeswari Nrutya Kala Sansad of Kumbhari village as an artist.

Fifty years of teaching

In 1974 he became a “Sabda Nrutya Guru”. For the next half-century he did not just perform the tradition, he taught it and passed it on. The citation says he trained more than 600 artists and came to be known across the region as “Bhaga Mastre”. His students spread beyond his district, so the form’s survival no longer depended on one man.

A tradition the world came to see

Sabda Nrutya’s mythological and ritual character sets it apart from mainstream stage dance. Researchers, Odissi dancers, scholars and foreign visitors have come to the Kumbhari institution, including visitors from Italy, Germany, Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and America, which raised the form’s profile outside Odisha.

The real story lies in the decades before the award. Without money or mainstream fame, he kept a niche tradition alive as a living practice. A guru’s impact multiplies not through his own performances but through his students.

Sources