Durga Charan Ranbir
A senior Odissi guru whose school in Bhubaneswar has trained generations of dancers in India and abroad, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.
Durga Charan Ranbir is one of the senior gurus of Odissi, the classical dance of Odisha. In 2025 he was named for the Padma Shri in the field of art, from Odisha [1].
Training
Ranbir was born on 1 March 1951 in Kamaguru, Odisha [2]. He trained at Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya under Guru Deba Prasad Das, with further lessons from Minati Mishra and Guru Pankaj Charan Das [2].
A school with branches abroad
He founded Nrutyayan, a dance school run in the traditional gurukul way, with associated centres in the United States, Canada and Malaysia [2]. More than 120 of his students have won national scholarships, and many have received Sangeet Natak Akademi and other awards [2].
He has performed and taught in more than a dozen countries and at India’s major dance festivals, including Khajuraho and Konark [2]. His choreography includes more than 20 mangalacharans, 18 pallavis and 100 abhinaya pieces, along with dance dramas [2].
He has received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the Odisha State Sangeet Natak Akademi award [2].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2025: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 11 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2025: citation for Durga Charan Ranbir — Padma Awards, Government of India. Accessed 11 October 2026.
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