A week-long Loka Kabi Balakrushna Mohanty birth anniversary festival was inaugurated by eminent Odia writer Haraprasad Das at the Naba Krushna Choudhury Stadium here on Sunday.
The Balakrushna Smruti Parishad and the Odisha Sahitya Akademi are jointly organising the festival to mark the late Loka Kabi’s 117th birth anniversary.
The inaugural function was attended by a battery of Odia poets, litterateurs, critics and research persons, who highlighted the basic structure and intent of Balakrushna Mohanty’s literary works and discussed his legendary creations that emphasise social behaviours and societal reformations through poetry, song drama, fiction and musical play. The late poet’s age-old musical plays and song dramas are still alive in every corner of Odisha, the speakers pointed out.
Eminent Odia dramatist Bijaya Mishra and essayist Surendra Moharana were felicitated with the Balakrushna Sanman by the organisers on the occasion. Among others who attended the event were renowned dramatist Kartika Rath, district Collector Yamini Sarangi, Er Pravakar Swain and Sahity Akademi Additional Secretary Rabinarayan Ray.