In the closing evening of the four-day Jayadev Samaroh on Sunday last, 10 dancers were conferred with Sri Jayadev Rastriya Nrutya Pratibha Puraskar by Industry and Mass Education Minister Debi Prasad Mishra. The awards were presented to Sonali Mohapatra for Odissi, Ragini Chandra Sekhar for Bharath Natyam, Gauri Diwakar for Kathak, Rajkumari Geetanjali Devi for Manipuri dance, Deepa Chakravarthy for Mohini Attam, Pallippurm Sunil for Kathakali, Vedantam Venkat Naga Chalapathy Rao for Kuchipudi, Tarali Das for Sattriya, Purva Dhanashree for Vilashini Natyam, and Rakesh Sai Babu for Mayurbhanja Chhau.
23 dancers were conferred with ‘Padmabati Prativa Purskara,’ during the festival which is named after wife of Shri Jayadev. The concluding evening began with the dance recital by Kolkata-based Odissi dancer Shib Narayan Banerjee who showcased Ashtapadi from Geeta Govinda. He performed on ‘Dheera sameere, Yamuna Tire….’ This dance piece described a message from a Gopi to Radha. Krishna requested the Gopi to tell Radha to come to the beautiful banks of the river Yamuna to meet him.
This was followed by Bharath Natyam by Delhi-based dancer Tanya Saxena. She presented two items, Shambu Natanam and Ashtapadi. The first dance piece described Shiva Tandava and Shiva's cosmic dance in the temple of Chidambaram, while second one explained the Rasas of Gopis with Krishna. She arrested the attention of audience with her performance.
The festival also featured dance performances by Manisha Manaswini, Kakali Paramguru, Sonali Mohapatra, Gauri Diwakar and many more noted dancers. Their peerless presentations captivated the audience. Sand artist Himansu Sekhar Parida’s work and a painting exhibition were exhibited in the premises of the Bhanja Kala Mandap during the festival.
A Jayadeva flame was brought to the Bhanja Kala Mandap in a procession from his birth place Kenduli in a rally on the inaugural day of the festival. It was organised by National Culture Mission and the Devdasi Nrutya Mandir as a tribute to the eminent poet.