Gangadhar Pradhan

Gangadhar Pradhan (10 July 1948 – 10 October 2010) was an Indian Odissi dancer.

Life and career Pradhan was born in Parikula, a village in Puri district, Odisha. He was a sickly baby; his father, Muralidhar Pradhan, a farmer, and mother, Dwitika Devi, whose previous children had died, dedicated him to Balunkeshwar, the presiding deity of the temple in the nearby village of Dimirisena. When he was six, he became a Gotipua dancer at the temple and discovered a vocation for dance. He later trained at Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya and the Padma Shri (Indian's fourth highest civilian award) in 2008.