The 28th OMC Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra (GKCM) Award Festival will be held from September 5 to 9 at the Rabindra Mandap here from 7 pm each day.

The Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award 2022 will be presented to Guru Niranjan Rout and Guru Ramhari Das for their invaluable contribution and lifetime achievement in the fields of Odishi dance and music respectively.

The Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Yuva Prativa Samman will be presented to Geetanjali Acharya for Odishi dance and to Matruprasad Das for Odishi music, acknowledging their dedication to their art forms and in recognition of their inspiring performances.

The Srjan has dedicated this year’s festival in memory of the late maestro Pandit Birju Maharaj ji, the legendary doyen of Kathak and fountain of inspiration in the world of classical arts.

This year, the programme includes a diverse confluence of music and dance performances. The inaugural evening will feature a Hindustani Jugalbandi by Pandit Ronu Majumdar (Flute) and Ustad Taufiq Qureshi (Djembe), and following evenings will witness an Odishi vocal recital by Sushree Sristi Swarupa Mishra, a night of musical fusion by Bhubaneswar’s very own Shivagni Ensemble, and a Carnatic vocal recital by Sikkil Gurucharan.

Among the dance presentations are those by Bharatanatyam exponent Vidushi Geeta Chandran and her ensemble the Natya Vriksha Dance Collective, and Kathak by Vidushi Paramita Maitra and Nrityangan Kathak Kendra.

The concluding evening will feature the prestigious award ceremony, followed by the much-awaited finale by Guru Ratikant Mohapatra and the Srjan ensemble. They will present the Odishi dance ballet, Ravan.