Konark: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday virtually inaugurated the 13th International Sand Art Festival at the Chandrabhaga beach and the 34th edition of Konark Festival on the world famous Sun temple premises respectively.
In his video message, he said, “I welcome everyone to this beautiful open-air auditorium in the premises of this 13th century UNESCO World Heritage Site. With the Sun Temple acting as the grand backdrop for the stage, together we’ll witness the beauty of Odissi and other Indian classical dance performances by several prolific artists from India and across the globe.”
Hon’ble Minister of Tourism Shri Aswini Patra and Minister of Electronics & IT, Sports & Youth Services and Home Shri Tusharkanti Behera as honourable guest of the event lit the ceremonial lamp as part of the inaugural ceremony.
As per the tradition, the inaugural evening started with scintillating Odissi performances by Jyotsnarani Sahoo and Group of Soor Mandir from Cuttack.
They commenced their presentation with ‘Naad Ninaad’, a dance that started with an invocation to Lord Jagannath and Lord Surya with the Surya Mantra followed by ‘Saranam’, a dance that signified the power of surrendering to the Lord.
This was followed by an ethereal Bharatnatyam performance by Praveen Kumar and group of Chithkala School of Academy from Bengaluru.
The group’s first item was ‘Jathiswaram’, a pure dance or Nritta sequence in which the performer wove several patterns on a basic musical composition. In the beginning, a shloka on the Sun God was evoked as he is the dispeller of darkness.
They followed it up with ‘Shivanjali’. It was a composition on Lord Nataraja that described the sheer magnificence of his cosmic dance.
The concluding item of the evening was ‘Thillana’. In this item, the dancers showcased the fitting finale to any Bharatnatyam dance, which comprised of intricate footwork, graceful poses and was followed by a benediction to Lord Krishna.
Simultaneously during these five days, the pristine Chandrabhaga Beach will witness thematic sand arts by 114 renowned sand artists from across the globe which includes 6 international artists from Australia, Czech Republic, Russia, Belarus, USA and Sri Lanka apart from national artists from Odisha and 7 other Indian states including West Bengal, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Gujrat, Telangana, Assam and Andhra Pradesh.
The 13th International Sand Art Festival 2023 was graced by Hon’ble Minister of Electronics & IT, Sports & Youth Services and Home Shri Tusharkanti Behera.
The live streaming of the dance festival has been made available on the social media handles of Odisha Tourism apart from telecasting it live on DD Bharati in a bid to reach wider audience from 1st – 5th December.
The festivals were attended by Hon’ble MP Jagatsinghpur Dr. Rajashree Mallick, Chairman OTDC Dr. Lenin Mohanty, Director Tourism Shri Sachin R. Jadhav and Advisor BNTYY Shri Durga Prasad Samantray and noted Sand Artist Padma Shri Sudarsan Pattnaik among other government officials.
The five-day programme is organised by Department of Tourism, Government of Odisha in association with Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi (OSNA) and Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC).
Photo Courtesy: Odisha Tourism
