Amongst the array of festivals in the city, particularly during this winter, the Sisupalgarh Mahotsav is emerging as one of the highly-appreciated events.
The three-day festival this year from January 20 would see Bollywood singer Abhijit Bhattacharya and noted Odishi dancer Dona Ganguly, among other performers.
The Kalinga Association for Protection of Culture and Heritage (KAPOCH), a socio-cultural organisation, has been hosting the festival for three years now. The KAPOCH under the leadership of its chairman Sangram Keshari Paikaray started the festival to make people aware about the historical importance of Sisupalgarh on the outskirt of Bhubaneswar and on the bank of river Daya.
There are festivals tagging the names of some places or temples like Konark Festival, Dhauli Festival, Mukteswar Festival, Puri Beach Festival, Gopalpur Mahotsav, Chilika Mahotsav and so on.
Why not SisupalgarhIJ asks Sangram. “With a view to popularising the historical and architectural importance of this ancient capital of Kalinga during the reign of Kalinga Samrat Aira Kharavela, I conceived the idea of kicking off a festival for Sisupalgarh. And now with the passing of merely three years, artists feel proud to be parts of this festival,” he added.
This year’s Sisupalgarh Samman would be conferred on journalist Pradyumna Satpathy. This was declared by Sisupalagarh Mahotsav organisers at a Press conference here on Friday wherein the festival poster was also released.