Legendary Kathak dancer Pandit Birju Maharaj, one of India’s best known and most loved left for heavenly abode on 16^th January in the early hours at his home in New Delhi. As informed by his granddaughter, he passed away after suffering from a heart attack. He would have been 84 next month. The art of Kathak dancing would get enlivened by his most extraordinary rhythmic foot control, expression, and delicate glance of eyes. He suffered from kidney problems and had been on dialysis, also he contracted Covid a few days ago. Yesterday he had a heart attack that took no time to snatch away the iconic personality from us. The devotion and passion he carried with him while performing on stage, is indescribable.

Brij Mohan Nath Mishra alias Maharaj Ji or Pandit Ji was born in a brahmin family in Lucknow Uttar Pradesh. He belonged to the family of Kathak dancers including his two uncles Shambhu Maharaj and Lachhu Maharaj and his father and teacher Acchan Maharaj. His father Achchan Maharaj belonged to the prestigious Kalka Bindadin family of Lucknow, that legacy was brought forward by Birju Maharaj. Since childhood, he used to perform in consorts with his father but it could not continue for long as his father passed away when he was only nine. Later on, with tremendous passion and determination, he carried on learning Kathak from his uncles Shambhu Maharaj and Lachchu Maharaj. He also started teaching at Sangeet Bharti, Mandi House. Since then, there was no looking back.

Birju Maharaj was known for the rhythmic movements of the foot that he learned from his father. The precision and fluidity in movement and expression that he presented on the stage, was taught by his uncles. Not only Kathak, but he also had an immense knowledge of Hindustani classical music. He composed music and sang, also choreographed in some of the Bollywood famous movies- Devdas, Bajirao Mastani, Dedh Ishqiya, Umrao Jaan, and many more Bollywood songs. His contribution to Bollywood movies can be seen through the performance of Madhuri Dixit in Dil Toh Pagal Hai and Devdas; Deepika Padukone in Bajirao Mastani and his student Saswati Sen in Shatranj Ke Khiladi. He always motivated his students to go deep into dancing so that they could understand all its intricacies.

He was awarded a Sangeet Natak Academy award at the very young age of 28. He also won Padma Vibhushan and Kalidas Samman. He remained the head of Kathak Kendra until he got retired in 1998.  Hearing the sad news of his demise, condolences started pouring in through emails, phone calls, social media, and in-person. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter his death is an ‘Irreparable loss to the entire art world’. Durga Jasraj described his demise as ‘a monumental loss to Indian performing arts. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman described ‘India loses a legend of performing arts’ and ‘Took forward traditions, held through generations, with great elan’. Though his sad departure has left us shattered but we hope the legacy and tradition he has established through his disciples, will carry this art forward.