3rd Meera Festival of Dances held at Rabindra Mandap
Bhubaneswar: Nrutyayan, a premier Odissi dance institution of the country and brain child of Padmashree Awardee Guru Durga Charan Ranbir, organized its annual Classical Dance Festival, the third edition of “Meera Festival of Dances” at Rabindra Mandap on Monday.
Since its inception, the Meera Festival of Dances has become a prestigious event in the cultural calendar of Odisha. The festival features other Indian Classical Dances apart from Odissi, its primary objective being the promotion and propagation of Odissi.
The 3rd Guru Durga Charan Ranbir Lifetime Achievement Award 2025 was conferred upon veteran Odissi dancer and Padmashree awardee Ranjana Gauhar
This year, the festival was hosted at Rabindra Mandap, Bhubaneswar, on 24th and 25th February 2025.
The first day featured Nrutyayan ensemble, the host organization in its premier production, Panchakanya, based on the five immortal women of India’s Puranic tradition, Ahalya, Draupadi, Tara, Kunti and Mandodari. A choreography of Guru Durga Charan Ranbir, Panchakanya was set to music by Sri Sukanta Kumar Kundu. This was followed by an Odissi duet recital by Guru Dr Manoranjan Pradhan and Smt Minati Pradhan. The first day of the festival concluded with a Bharatnatyam recital by Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar awardee, Dr Mandakranta Roy from Kolkata.
Since the inception of Meera Festival of Dances, Nrutyayan institutes two awards in honour of its founder, the Guru Durga Charan Ranbir Lifetime Achievement award and the Guru Durga Charan Ranbir Yuva Puraskar.
The 3rd Guru Durga Charan Ranbir Lifetime Achievement Award 2025 was conferred upon veteran Odissi dancer and Padmashree awardee Ranjana Gauhar from New Delhi and the 3rd Guru Durga Charan Ranbir Yuva Puraskar was conferred upon Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar awardee, Dr Mandakranta Roy.
The festival was inaugurated by Minister of Law, Works, Excise, Govt of Odisha, Prithviraj Harichandan, who lighted the lamp along with other guests of the evening; Sri Jagannath Pradhan, State Executive Member, BJP Odisha, Arun Kumar Behera, Additional Secretary, Department of Steel and Mines, Govt of Odisha and Dr Bhagyalipi Malla, Superintendent, Odisha State Museum, Department of OLLC, Govt of Odisha.