The annual Mystic Kalinga Festival (MKF), a fair of verse, music, dance and spiritual discourse, would be held in Bhubaneswar and Chilika from January 5 to 7 next with a theme named “From the carnal to the cosmic: A celebration of Bhakti poetry”. During the three days of the festival, the city will witness hundreds of renowned poets and creative artists reciting and performing on the stage. Eminent writers like Sitakant Mahapatra, Ramakanta Rath, Pratibha Ray et al would join the festival as guests and speakers.
Renowned Hindi poet and critic Ashok Vajpeyi would be the key note speaker of the event, informed MKF director Arundhathi Subramaniam.
Inimitable Parvathy Baul will share her personal understanding of bhakti,. Leading mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik will reflect on why regional bhakti movements (including those of Odisha) are often ignored and eclipsed, while noted scholar Arshia Sattar will discuss the Valmiki Ramayana as a biography of Rama before he became ‘god’.
Over a hundred poets, translators, musicians and scholars will read and discuss the extraordinary verse of some of the greatest mystic poets like Appar, Sambandar, Tulsidas, Ravidas, Adi Shankara, Jayadeva, Tukaram, Lal Ded, Meerabai, Janabai, Salabega and Abhirami Bhattar.