Pandit Birju Maharaj alias Brij Mohan Nath Mishra was born on February 4, 1937. He took training in Kathak under the guidance of his father, Achchan Maharaj and uncles Lacchu Maharaj and Shambhu Maharaj. Birju Maharaj gave his first performance at the young age of seven at Lucknow and after that there was no looking back.
Birju Maharaj started teaching the dance form at the young age of thirteen, at the Sangeet Bharti in New Delhi.
The Bharatiya Kala Kendra is an Indian cultural institution which runs a noted school for music, dance and performing arts in New Delhi.
Pandit Birju Maharaj also taught at the Kathak Kendra where he was Head of Faculty, and Director, retiring in 1998.
Birju Maharaj gave his first performance at the young age of seven at Lucknow and after that there was no looking back. He is a multi-faceted personality. Besides his mastery over Kathak, he is also a superb musician, percussionist, composer, teacher, director, choreographer and a poet. Birju Maharaj has composed many dance dramas like 'Gobardhan Leela', 'Makhan Chori', 'Malti-Madhav', 'Kumar Sambhav', and 'Phag Bahar'. Birju Maharaj has also dabbled in films. He composed two classical dance sequence for Satyajit Ray's film 'Shatranj Ke Khiladi' and choreographed a song for Sanjay Leela Bhansal's film 'Devdas'.
Hindu mythology and especially the exploits of Radha and Krishna were ideal subÂjects for music and dance; therefore, performing artistes were a part of religious ceremonies and social functions.
Kathak's guiding philosophy calls for an uplifting of the human soul and improvement of the total person through dance. Rhythm is inside all animate and inanimate bodies, but it can never be sensed unless awoken by artistic expressions. Dance is such an art form, Indian philosophy suggests, and the attainment of the state of knowledge about rhythm makes life serene.
The fundamentals of Kathak learnt by Birju from his father built his strong foundation in the art. As a young boy, Birju Maharaj accompanied his father and uncles to their performances and thus grew up in an environment that eventually pushed him to become a great dancer.
