Renowned Odissi dancer Mayadhar Raut (92) died on Saturday at his Delhi home, his son Manoj Raut said. "He had breakfast this morning, surrounded by his grandchildren and the rest of the family. He wasn't experiencing any illnesses and passed away due to old age," Raut told PTI. The last rites will be conducted at the Lodhi Road crematorium on Saturday. The Padma Shri awardee, born on July 6, 1933 in Odisha, is considered the "Father of Odissi dance", having steered the revival of Odissi in 1950s with Shastra-based knowledge. His training to become one of the foremost artistes of the dance form began at the age of seven with learning the 'Gotipua' dance form, a precursor to the classical Odissi dance. Raut was the first to present the 'Gotipua Dance on stage in 1944. Later, he worked to codify, redefine and restructure Odissi dance to get it the status of a "shastra-based classical dance form". Raut was a founding member of Kala Vikas Kendra in Cuttack in 1952; it was the first