Jagannath Behera

Gayaka Shekhar Jagannath Behera




Born in 1926 in Jagatsinghpur in Orissa, Shri Jagannath Behera started his career in the Pala theatre while he was still in his teens. Today, at the age of ninety, he is still an active Pala performer. He was trained in the art by Shri Harekrushna Nath, Bhagaban Singh, and Harekrushna Swain.
Though he received formal education only up to middle school, Shri Behera has been a voracious reader of literary classics in Oriya, Bengali, Hindi,Sanskrit, and English.  He often quotes from these classics during his performances.  He has written two books and some amount of poetry.  A General Council member of the Orissa Sangeet Natak Akademi, he has headed the All Orissa Pala Gayak Parishad.  He is also President of the Jogi Mahapurusha Sanskrit Vidyalaya. For his services to the Pala theatre, Shri Jagannath Behera was conferred the Orissa Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 2007.  He was bestowed the title Gayak Guru by the Governor of Orissa in 2006.  He has also received the Jagannath Sanskrit University Award besides felicitations from a number of cultural organizations.


Shri Jagannath Behera has received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 2009 for his contribution to theatre as a Pala artist.



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