Bhubaneswar: The first edition of Pujya Puja Utsav, organised by ‘Abhinandan’, a newly founded Bhubaneswar-based socio-cultural Organisation, was held at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar on May 29.
On this occasion, two noted theatre personalities Er Chandra Shekhar Nanda and Upendra Prasad Nayak felicitated.
Later, a play titled ‘Astamita’ was staged by ‘Sampark’, a Rourkela-based theatre organisation. While the play was directed written by Harishchandra Behera, a retired OAS officer, whose brainchild is ‘Abhinandan’, it was directed by Bhaskar Chandra Mohapatra, who founded ‘Sampark’.
Among others, eminent theatre personality Manoj Patnaik and Odisha Natya Sangha president Haren Sahoo attended the event as invited guests.
While speaking to kalasanskruti, Harishchandra Behera said, “ ‘Abhinandan’ is an organisation of some like-minded retired persons. It will organise two festivals in a year with an aim to make the present generation aware of yesteryear’s theatre personalities and provide a platform to budding talents.
Notably, the evening was dedicated to playwright Ananda Shankar Das.
