Bhubaneswar: The fourth edition of ‘Urjaa Dance and Music Festival 2025’, organized by Padamruta Dance Academy, was successfully held at Rabindra Mandap, Bhubaneswar, on Wednesday.
The evening was graced by eminent guests including former Chief Secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik, Ekamra MLA Babu Singh, renowned Mardala player and CSNA awardee Guru Dhaneswar Swain, eminent vocalist Guru Sukant Kumar Kundu who inaugurated the festival by lighting the auspicious lamp. Padamruta Dance Academy’s president noted Gotipua guru Guru Gobind Chandra Pal, founder Bijan Kumar Palai and artistic director Soumya Sucharita Pal were also present on the dais.
The guests highly appreciated the vision and presentation of the Urja Dance Festival.
On this occasion, renowned Odissi dance guru Padma Shri Kumkum Mohanty was conferred with the Acharya Nandikeshwar Samman – 2025 and eminent Odissi dancer Smt. Rajashree Praharaj was honored with the Acharya Nandikeshwar Yuva Samman – 2025.
At the same time, students of Padamruta Dance Academy who secured the highest marks in its annual examinations were also felicitated. These included Anvi Patnaik from the junior-most category, Shreyanshi Mahapatra from the junior category, and Pratikshya Sahu from the first-level category.
The cultural evening got off to a fine start with 15 senior artistes of the host institution presenting a group production ‘Vrinda’, enacting the story of Vrindavati and Jalandhara. The episodes like ‘churning of ocean’, ‘war between Jalandhara and Lord Shiva’, ‘Lord Vishnu breaks Vrinda’s chastity’ and ‘Vrinda blessed to become Tulsi’ were choreographed by Guru Bijan Kumar Palai beautifully.
It was a visual delight, indeed. Its music was composed by Guru Sukanta Kumar Kundu, rhythm by Guru Dhaneswar Swain and lyrics was by Guru Bijan Kumar Palai.
The evening also witnessed scintilinting performances like ‘Mangalacharan’, ‘Shantakaram’, folk dance ‘Chhota Mora Gaon Ti’, ‘Dalkhai’, abhinaya ‘Jamunaku Aau Jana’, ‘Jagannath Stotram’, ‘Bihag Pallavi’, ‘Mita Chahan Re’ and concluded with ‘Navadurga’, portraying nine aspects of Goddess Durga and Sambalpuri folk dance.
The performances by the artists of Padamruta Dance Academy were highly captivating and well received by the audience.
The cultural festival was conducted under the direct guidance of Guru Bijan Kumar Palai, with artistic director Smt. Soumya Sucharita Pal overseeing the program management, assisted by Guru Sushanta Kumar Behera, along with the active support and presence of the academy’s guardians and well-wishers.
The evening was gracefully anchored by Dr. Mrutyunjay Rath.
Notably, Padamruta Dance Academy was founded by Guru Pandit Satyapriya Palai, an eminent Gotipua dancer and vocalist. Now, the institution is being run by Guru Bijan Kumar Palai and Smt. Soumya Sucharita Pal.
