Bhubaneswar, Oct 11 (IANS) Renowned Odissi dance guru Gangadhar Pradhan died early Monday in a private hospital here after a prolonged illness, family sources said. He was 61.

Pradhan had been undergoing treatment in Apollo Hospital since last week following a cardiac arrest and a brain haemorrhage, the sources said. He is survived by his wife, three daughters and a son.

Pradhan, who began his journey into the world of dance at the age of six as a gotipua dancer at the Balunkeswar temple in Puri district's Dhimirisena village, was the founder of organisations like the Orissa Dance Academy and Konark Natya Mandap in Bhubaneswar.

Widely travelled, he had taken his dance to several parts of the world. Pradhan was conferred with Padma Shri in 2008 for his contribution to dance.

Pradhan set up the Orissa Dance Academy in Bhubaneswar in 1986 and trained hundreds of Indian and foreign students in Odissi and other regional dance forms.

He also received the State Academy Award in 1993 and the national Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1998. He had also been the president of the Orissa Sangeet Natak Akademi.