The five-day Banki Mahotsav on the aegis of State Culture Department will commence from Wednesday (October 24) on the day of Kumarpurnima.
It will be inaugurated by Steel and Mines Minister Prafulla Kumar Mallick as chief guest, Cuttack MP Bhartruhari Mahtab as guest of honour in presence of Banki MLA Pravat Kumar Tripathy. The Cuttack Collector will preside.
On Thursday, Tourism Minister Ashok Panda, Badamba MLA Debi Prasad Mishra, Cuttack-Barabati MLA Debasish Samantray and Begunia MLA Prasant Kumar Jagdev would adorn the dais as chief guest, chief speaker and guests of honour, respectively.
On Friday Sports, Information Technology and Youth Affairs Minister Chandrasarathi Behera, Rajya Sabha Member Soumyaranjan Pattnaik, Niali MLA Dr Pramod Mallik and Dhamnagar MLA Muktikant Mandal are the guests. On Saturday WCD Minister Prafulla Samal, Athagarh MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain and Cuttack Zilla Parishad President Jyotirekha Nayak are slated to join as guests.
On the valedictory function, Finance and Excise Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera will attend as the chief guest while renowned litterateur Dr Mrutunjaya Ratha will join as chief speaker and Choudwar-Cuttack MLA Pravat Ranjan Biswal as guest of honour.
Hundreds of stalls of the Government and non-Government organisations would be opened for public. Cultural programmes like Dulduli, Paika Akhada, Gotipua, folkdances, modern orchestra and melody items would be presented every evening. Several local icons of different spheres will be felicitated. On the concluding day, the Jyoti of Maa Charchika would be brought from the shrine with a large rally to the Mahotsav ground.
Banki Mahotsav Committee chairman MLA Pravat Kumar Tripathy said that the fest would remind the locals of their rich cultural roots.