The third evening of the Konark Festival 2013 here on Tuesday witnessed exquisite presentation in Odishi and Manipuri styles giving an illusion of the dancers engraved in the stonewalls of the Sun Temple coming alive on the open-air stage against the backdrop of the shrine.
Alok Kanungo of the Shinjan Nrutyalaya, Kolkata, entered the stage with her co-artists to present Sthapatya Satya, one of her unique compositions depicting the performing arts such as Chitra, Kavya, Nritya and Geeta embellished with Bandha. The choreographic work marked a perfect fusion of the age-old pristine Bandha dance along with the refined Odishi.
The next was Manipuri classical dance presented by Singhjit Singh and group from the Manipur Nrityashram. Guru Singh presented Vasant Rasa based on the immortal love between Sriradha and Srikrishna. That was followed by Pung Cholom, the ritualistic drums, an integral part of Manipuri religious occasions.
Then, Shringar Bhakti portraying the intimate relations between Gopis and Krishna was artistically presented. The concluding item was Nagar Kirtan which reiterated the vitality of Kirtan to spread the message of Hari Nam.
In the packed gallery, officials of Odisha Tourism and Odisha Sangeet Natak Academy assisted in conducting the programme which was hosted on the stage by Dr Sadhana Srivastav and Dr Mrutyunjaya Rath.