Noted Odissi Danseuse Madhusmita Mohanty to Receive Mahari Award

By Kedar Mishra

Bhubaneswar: Noted Odissi Danseuse Madhusmita Mohanty would be conferred with the prestigious Mahari Award for this year at the Guru Pankaj Utsav at Rabindra Mandap on March 17.

The Mahari Award is one and exclusive award in the field of Odissi dance given to a dancer of national and international repute is instituted by Adi Guru of Odissi dance Late Pankaj Charan Das.

The award carries cash prize of Rs. 50,000 a citation and memento.

Apart from this, Guru Praffula Mangaraj of New Delhi, Guru Bankim Chandra Sethi, Dr. Sukla Bandopadhaya and Smt. Lata Ghosh will be felicitated with Madeli, Binakara, Nachuni Samprada and Gauni Samprada titles respectively for their outstanding contribution in the field of Odissi Mardala, Odissi music composition and direction, Odissi dance and Odissi music respectively.

The dance festival, beginning from March 15, would be jointly organised by the state Culture department and Guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra Odissi Research Centre on the occasion of the 95^th birth anniversary of Guru Pankaj Charan Das.

The three-day long National dance festivall which is one of the vital platform for the solo dancers to exhibit their talent and skills will witness the performance of several well known dancers besides Mahari Awardee Danseuse like Tapaswini Panda, Nibedita Patri, Sriparna Bose(Kolkata), Lingaraj Pradhan, Sunita Moharana, Arpita Pany, Baishali Kolay (Kolkata), Ileana Citaristi, Mausumi Madhuchhanda Padhi, Mrinalini Bisawas(New Delhi) and group dance Balgopalastaka by the artists of Samprada laid by Suhag Nalini Das.