The 14th Guru Debaprasad Award Festival organized by Tridhara a started with great enthusiasm and excitement among the art connoisseurs at Rabindra Mandap on Saturday.
The festival will continue till February 15 whose main motto is to showcase and promote Odishi dance, a synthetic gharana taking to the essence of tribal and folk traditions.
At the outset, Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Bhajan Samrat Padma Shree Pandit Anup Jalota for his lifetime contribution in the field of Indian classical music.
The first presentation in the inaugural evening was Odishi dance drama “Sankhipta Ramayana” by the senior dancers of Tridhara. The dance was choreographed by Guru Gajendra Kumar Panda and music was given by Guru Pandit Haramohan Khuntia.
The second presentation of the evening was Bhajan and Ghazal by Bhajan Samrat Padmashri Pandit Anup Jalota. He presented some of his popular Bhajans include Aisi Lagi Lagan, Main Nahi Makhan Khayo, Rang De Chunariya, Jag Me Sundar Hai Do Naam, etc. He was accompanied by Pandit Prosenjit Poddar in Tabla, Prof Jabahar Mishra in flute, Pandit Ramlal Mishra in Sarangi, Kousik Mukherjee in keyboard and Arindam Ghosh in guitar. The art connoisseurs were captivated by the superb presentation of the evening’s musical programme.