Who among the following dancers was the first one from the state of Odisha to be conferred the Padma Vibhushan Award?

Correct — B. Kelucharan Mohapatra is the Odissi guru who trained in the Gotipua tradition and shaped the modern concert form of the dance, and he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2000.

He had already received the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan, so the 2000 award took him to the highest of the three Padma honours — the first dancer of Odisha to get there.

That is the claim option (b) makes.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Uday Shankar — Uday Shankar was a pioneer of modern Indian dance, but he belongs to no Odissi lineage and not to Odisha, so the state filter in the stem removes him.
• (c)
  Pandit Birju Maharaj — Pandit Birju Maharaj is the Kathak master of the Lucknow gharana lineage, an Uttar Pradesh tradition rather than an Odia one.
• (d)
  Guru Bipin Singh — Guru Bipin Singh is the guru identified with Manipuri dance, from Manipur — the wrong state and the wrong form.

The civilian honours run Bharat Ratna first, then Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. This stem asks which rung a performer reached and narrows the field with a second filter — here the state, Odisha.

Odissi is one of the classical dance forms recognised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and Kelucharan Mohapatra is the name the exam attaches to its twentieth-century revival.

Key facts

• Kelucharan Mohapatra, the Odissi guru, received the Padma Vibhushan in 2000.
• The Padma Vibhushan is the second-highest civilian award, after the Bharat Ratna.
• Odissi is the classical dance form of Odisha.
• Birju Maharaj was a Kathak dancer of the Lucknow gharana lineage.

Common traps

• Choosing Uday Shankar because he is the most famous name in the list.
• Answering on the award alone and ignoring the state named in the stem.

No directly related past PYQ was found.