Bhubaneswar: Eminent Odissi vocalist Shyamamani Devi and Daskathia maestro Upendra Kumar Panigrahi were conferred with the prestigious ‘Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja Samman‘, the highest award of the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi for the year 2017 and 2018 respectively, at an award ceremony at Bhanjakala Mandap here on Wednesday.
Odia Language, Literature and Culture Minister Jyotiprakash Panigrahi gave away the awards. The award carried a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh.
On this occasion, Academy awards were conferred upon artistes in 15 different categories excelling in their respective fields for the year 2017 and 2018.
The awardees for the year 2017 are:
Odisha Vocal Music: Santilata Barik Chhotray
Hindustani Vocal Music: Alaka Chand
Instrumental Music (string instrument): Ravishankar Pradhan
Instrumental Music(Percussion): Kalindi Charan Parida
Light Classical Music: Sudha Mishra
Folk Instrument: Alok Prakash Das
Folk Music: Gobinda Chandra Panigrahi
Script Writing: Hemendra Mohapatra
Acting (2nos): Brundaban Barik, Bidyut Prabha Patnaik
Direction: Prasanna Mishra
Stage Craft: Antarjyami Panda
Odissi Dance: Brajakishore Mallick
Folk Dance: Neelkantha Tarai
Folk Drama: Keshranjan Pradhan
Geeti Kabita: Minakshi Devi
The awardees for the year 2018 are:
Odisha Vocal Music: Simanchal Das
Hindustani Vocal Music: Harihar Rath
Instrumental Music (String instrument): Ramesh Chandra Das
Instrumental Music (Percussion): Radha Kanta Nanda
Light Classical Music: Geeta Dash
Folk Instrument: Santosh Suna
Folk Music: Bithika Chatterjee
Script Writing: Sudhansu Nayak
Acting (2nos): Niranjan Sahu, Laxmipriya Mishra
Direction: Haren Kumar Sahu
Stage Craft: Sangram Keshari Maharana
Odissi Dance: Meera Das
Folk Dance: Maguni Jena
Folk Drama: Bijay Kumar Bahali
Geeti Kabita: Badri Mishra
All of them were awarded with a cash prize of Rs 25,000 and a citation.
