Bhubaneswar: Come September, the temple city will be held spellbound by the 24th edition of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award Festival scheduled to start from September 5 onwards.
The five-day-event, organised by Srjan, will be held at Rabindra Mandap in the city here and graced by noted film personality Hema Malini on its valedictory.
It may be mentioned here that in 1995, the award festival started as a single-day event and now has grown into a five-day-long celebration of scintillating performances featuring four classical music and four classical dance performances.
Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award Festival ceremony is a premium festival of the country, recognised across Odisha and highly appreciated in various reputed cultural centres of the country. Every year, artistes of national and international repute mesmerise the audiences. Year after year, the festival invites unparalleled viewership with a large sprinkling of foreign tourists, critics and connoisseurs alike.
Officials at Srjan said that the aim behind organising such an event is to give the state audience an exposure to classical fare of the highest level. “We aspire to sensitise, captive audiences, especially the younger section and students, so that an enthusiasm for the subtle flavours of classicism is planted in them,” an official said.
The Nalco Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra (GKCM) Award will be presented to Lingaraj Behera, in the field of Odissi dance and Satchi Das for her outstanding accomplishments in the field of theatre. Notably, the award is being presented on an annual basis in the field of dance, music, theatre and cinema to exceptional individuals with a cash prize of Rs 1,00,000 to each artiste and a citation. Two such awards are presented each year. Additionally, the Nalco Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Yuva Prativa Samman will be presented with a cash prize of Rs 25,000 each to four meritorious young artistes in the area of classical dances and Odissi music for their continuous outstanding performances. This year the Samman will be presented to Sonali Mohapatra and Srisubikash Mukherjee for Odissi dance, Swati Sinha for Kathak and Rohan Suresh Dahale for Odissi mardala.
Renowned artistes from inside and outside the state will be performing in the five-day festival.