Konark Festival 2013 to kick off on December 1

The Department of Tourism, in association with Odisha Tourism Development Corporation & Odisha Sangeet Natak Academy, is organising the Konark Festival and the International Sand Art Festival at the open air auditorium and Chandrabhaga beach respectively from 1st to 5th December,2013.

Each year the majestic Sun Temple of Konark serves as a backdrop to the scintillating Konark Dance Festival, which is a platform for different classical dance styles coming together to exhibit the beauty of those art forms.

An annual fête of Indian classical dance and music, the Konark Festival is one of the biggest dance festivals in the country, bringing champions of different classical and traditional dance forms together to display their skill and mastery over age-old dance forms such as Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Odissi, Mohiniyattam and Kathak dance styles, amongst others.

Since 1989, the Konark Dance Festival has been drawing tourists and dance and music lovers alike to the sandy shores of Konark every year. This year 10 national and international acclaimed artistes / groups have confirmed their participation at the ensuing festival. The list includes well known performers such as Sadanam Balakrishnan, Aloka Kanungo, Singhjit Singh, Dr. Alekhya Punjala, Anitha Guha, Rani Karnaa and Ileana Citaristi etc.

The five-day festival will showcase performances in Odissi, Kathak, Manipuri,
Bharatnatyam, Kathakali & Mohiniyattam and Kuchipudi. A number of artists from
different parts of the country such as Raipur, Chennai, Keral, Manipur, Hyderabad and Kolkata will be performing at the festival this year along with noted artistes from Odisha.

OTDC Chairman narendra Swain, Director, Tourism Nihar Ranjan Pattanaik, General Manager OTDC, Bishnu Prasad Mishra, Information Officer Barada Prasanna Das were present in the press meet.

CULTURAL PROGRAMME AT KONARK FESTIVAL:

01.12.13

1. Purnashree Raut & Group, Raipur, Chhattisgarh
2. Anitha Guha & Group, Chennai.

02.12.13

3. Sadanam Balakrishnan & Group, Kerala
4. Rudrakshya Foundation, Bhubaneswar.

03.12.13

5. Aloka Kanungo & Group, Kolkata
6. Singhjit Singh & Group, Imphal, Manipur.

04.12.13

7. Alekhya Punjala & Group, Hyderabad
8. Ileana Citaristi & Group, Bhubaneswar.

05.12.13

9. Rani Karnaa & Group, Kolkata
10. GKCM Odissi Research Centre, Bhubaneswar.