Old clip of Pandit Birju Maharaj touching feet of student resurfaces

The short clip shows the revered Kathak guru giving the girl his blessings first with a tika on her forehead and then hands her a set of ghungroos or anklets worn by dancers during performances. During the ritual, he is seen seeking blessing from the anklets and then asks the girl to place her feet together before touching them.

“See, a guru only touches the disciple’s feet once. However, the disciple must continue doing this in pursuit of their art,” he is heard saying in Hindi.
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In any form of classical Indian dance, ghungroos are considered sacred and dancers always worship them before putting them on for a performance. Before getting on to the stage, dancers offer the ghungroos to the deities and then to the guru to invoke their blessings.

When it comes to receiving ghungroos, it is an important day in a dancer’s life as it marks the new beginning of their discourse. It involves a ritual called ghungroo daan, where the guru, elders and well-wishers gather on an auspicious day and offer the anklets to the deity before handing it over to the shishya (disciple).

The video of Birju Maharaj started doing rounds on various social media platforms, leaving everyone emotional.

Born Brijmohan Nath Mishra, Birju Maharaj ruled the stage with his impeccable footwork and emotive, stylised storytelling the Kathak way. Maharaj once recalled how he was just three years old when he would toddle towards the taleemkhana where young students were taught dance skills as well as the harmonium and the tabla.

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