Puru Dadheech

Puru Dadheech (born Purushottam Dadheech, 17 July 1939) is a Kathak dancer, choreographer and an educator of Indian classical dance. At the oldest Kathak department which was formed in 1956 at Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya Public University located in Khairagarh. He is the holder of Doctorate in Kathak Classical Dance and emphasizes the relevance of Shastras (Indian Ancient Dance treatises like Natyashastra and Nandikeshvara's Abhinaya Darpana) in the Kathak repertoire. He was awarded Padma Shri, the 4th highest civilian award of India at the age of 81. He is currently serving as the Director of the dedicated Kathak research Centre at the Sri Sri University, Cuttack called Sri Sri Centre for Advanced Research in Kathak. He has received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (Akademi Ratna). He has propounded the Dadheech Shaili Style of Kathak dance.

Education Puru Dadheech studied under Guru-Shishya Parampara under Gurus Pt. Durga Prasad, Pt. Sunder Prasad as well as Pt. Narayan Prasad.

Dadheech is Doctorate (D.Mus.) in Kathak. Research dissertation Kathak Nritya ka Udbhav aur Vikas by Prayag Sangeet Samiti.

He received the Mahamahopadhyay and Sangeetacharya in Kathak from Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal. He also has a PhD in Sanskrit Dramatics

Personal life Puru Dadheech was born to a traditional Pauranik brahmin family of Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. He is married to kathak guru and researcher Dr. Vibha Dadheech. He has 2 sons and a daughter.

Career Dadheech had served as Professor and Head of the Dance Department at Bhatkhande University, Lucknow, and as Dean, Faculty of Arts, at Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwa Vidyalaya, Khairagarh, teaching and guiding several research scholars for their doctoral thesis.

Dadheech has been an editor for Swarn Jayanti Smarika Golden Jubilee Magazine of Bhatkhande Hindustani Sangeet Mahavidyala.

He participated in many seminars and delivered talks on subjects such as "Kalidasa and Natya Sashtra" at Birla Academy, Kolkata.

Puru Dadheech has developed Kathak syllabus books which are instated in the Kathak department of various universities. He has created the Dadheech style of Kathak.

He has been on committee on National Conference- "Innovation in Music And Dance"(23-24, Jan 2015) organized at Dept. Music And Dance, Govt. Maharani Laxmibai Girls P.G. college, Indore.

Dadheech has been a mentor and guide to several students doing Masters and Doctorate degrees in Kathak since 1961.

Awards Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Fellowship (Akademi Ratna) 2024-2025 Padma Shri 2020 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 2018 Kalidas Samman 2021 Maha Mahopadhyay from Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal Sangeet Natak Academy, U.P., Academy Award 1984

Dhrupad in Kathak Dadheech's Dhrupad composition in 28 matra is sung regularly sung in concerts by 'Dhrupad' maestros the Gundecha Brothers. Puru Dadheech, discussed the origin of Dhrupad at length and established that Dhrupads are older than the times of Raja Mansingh Tomar.

80th birthday celebrations Dadheech's 80th birthday celebrations on 17 July 2019 started with a National Seminar on the topic ‘Contributions of Dr Puru Dadheech in the field of Dance, Literature and Shastras at Indore city. The chairperson for this seminar was Padma Shri Shovana Narayan. The Gundecha Brothers paid a tribute by singing three Dhrupad written by Puru Dadheech.