From Naari to Sita, from kathak to violin and from Odissi to Bharatanatyam, the Kelucharan Mahapatra Award Festival that concluded recently at Bhubaneswar had an interesting cross-flow of ideas. By Pradeep Pattanaik
It can’t be but like this only. One day you get captivated by the solo Odissi performance of Rahul Acharya and the next day Sita essayed by Guru Sujata Mahapatra strikes a chord with you.
The only festival in Bhubaneswar that keeps critics, art connoisseurs and the public engaged for five days is the Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra Award Festival. In its 22nd edition, held from September 5 to 9 in Bhubaneswar, the festival witnessed Bharatnatyam, Kathak, violin, sitar, tabla and flute recitals by nationally and globally renowned artists. The fest opened with a performance by Guru Sujata Mahapatra, the disciple and daughter-in-law of the legendary Kelucharan Mahapatra, guru Aruna Mahantya and guru Meera Das. They essayed the characters of Sita, Savari and Meera respectively with aplomb.
There was a solo Odissi by Rahul Acharya of Bhubaneswar, a disciple of Guru Durga Charan Ranbir and the recipient of Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar. Featured in the third evening, he presentedHarahara Mangalacharan based on Raag Pahadi Bhatiari. It was followed by Chakrabaka Pallavi in which he internalised the rhythms and demonstrated his inner power through lyrical steps and graceful movements. He concluded his performance with a performance on Moksha.
Apart from the Odissi presentations, the festival had also Bharatnatyam by Satyanarayan Raju and Kathak by Asimbandhu Bhattacharya. The signing off performance was a Srjan production called TYAGA.
The instrumental recitals added charm to every evening of the festival. A Kanyakumari’s violin recital on the first evening captivated the audience. On the second evening the sitar recital by Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan was a treat for connoisseurs. The scintillating tabla recital by Pandit Yogesh Samsi will be remembered for a long time as will the flute recital by Pt Praveen Godkhindi.
On the concluding evening, Chief Minister Navin Patnaik presented the awards. Filmmaker Jharana Das and guru Kishore Kumar Mahanty received the Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra Award that carries a purse of one lakh rupees. Odissi dancers Rajiv Bhattacharya and Madhusmita Mahanty, Bharatnatyam dancer P.Praveen Kumar and Odissi vocalist Rupak Parida were recipients of the Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra Yuva Prativa Samman. Dr Madhubrata Satpathy was awarded with Nrutya Kala Samman.