Damodar Hota

Damodar Hota was an Indian classical vocalist, musicologist, composer and guru from Odisha whose work centred on Odissi music (Udra Paddhatiya Sangita) and Hindustani classical vocal music. He was born in Puri on 1935-12-25 and died in Bhubaneswar on 2022-02-05. Although sometimes included in Odissi dance contexts because of his major contribution to its musical tradition, he was not a classical dancer.

His earliest musical instruction came from his mother, Dandimani Devi, and father, Gopinath Hota, who was proficient in Odissi music and mardala. He subsequently studied Odissi and Hindustani music with Nrusinghanatha Khuntia, learned tabla and mardala from Kashinath Barika, and received advanced Hindustani training under Omkarnath Thakur and Balwantrai Bhatt. He studied at the College of Music and Fine Arts, Banaras Hindu University, and earned a doctoral degree from the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal.

Hota was associated with the Gwalior gharana vocal tradition while also undertaking influential research on Odissi classical music during the 1960s. His research addressed the historical foundations, ragas, talas and lakshyanas of Odissi music. He served as senior faculty in Hindustani vocal music and later as principal of Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya. A Top Grade artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan, he also composed under the pen name "Swar Rang."

From 1963, Hota taught in the gurukula tradition. He founded Swar Rang for the teaching of Hindustani classical music and Udra Paddhatiya Sangita, established the Sri Jagannath Institute of Udra Paddhatiya Sangeet for research and training, authored books on theory and practice, and organized the Tridhara National Music Conference from 2007 to 2016. His legacy is particularly significant for safeguarding, documenting and presenting Odissi music as a distinct classical system.