With the inauguration of two major annual cultural events, the Konark Festival of Indian classical dances and the International Sand Art Festival, on Friday, the sleepy evenings of this tiny town came alive with all footfalls of a large number of tourists and connoisseurs.
Hosted by the State’s Department of Tourism since 1989, the annual Konark Festival spanning over five evenings, features Indian classical dances with the objective of highlighting the world heritage site of Konark as a major destination of cultural tourism while providing patronage to the marginalised classical dance traditions of India. The annual International Sand Art Festival is a recent addition that coincides with the dance festival and is mounted at the Chandrabhaga sea beach.
Being Odisha’s own dance tradition, the festival kicked off, obviously, with an Odishi presentation by Bhubaneswar-based Nupur Dance Academy of Guru Niranjan Rout that staged a ballet based on the story of Kandarpa or Madana, the cupid, as described in Hindu mythology, who was destroyed by Lord Shiva and was brought back to life later.
The main attraction of the inaugural evening was, however, the Bharatanatyam troupe from Malaysia and their concert on the Ramayana. Led by artistic director and choreographer Shankar Kandasamy, Kuala Lumpur-based The Temple of Fine Art ensemble staged “Bhavayaami Raghuraamam” that revolved round the story of Lord Rama while traversing through the immensely popular Indian epic that has also been equally popular in South Asian countries like Malaysia. “We are highly honoured to be invited to such a prestigious festival in India. We loved the amazing ambience here,” stated Shankar, the troupe leader.