Nabarangpur: A grand Raja Festival celebration featuring felicitation ceremonies, cultural performances, musical variety shows, literary discussions, and poetry recitations was held at the Saurasahi Kalyan Mandap under the auspices of the organization ‘Let’s Walk Together’. The program was organized under the guidance of chief advisor and renowned social worker Jagannath Mahapatra and founder Aparajita Satapathy.
Chief Guest for the event was Nabarangpur MLA Gaurishankar Majhi, and the keynote speaker was Debadas Mahankuda, a member of Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi. Dhiren Mohan Pattnaik of the cultural institution Swara Ghungura (Jeypore), noted comedian Gopal Krishna Samantray (Jeypore), and humorist Tuna Tun Tun from Rayagada also participated and spoke on the relevance of the Raja Festival.
In the third session, Ravindra Tripathy chaired the proceedings, while Sunandini Tripathy served as the stage anchor. Other dignitaries included Bhagaban Bahinipati, Sharatchandra Mahapatra, and many more.
Several individuals — Manoj Kumar Panigrahi, Manohar Tripathy, Bikram Dash, Akhil Bhatt, Barun Dhanphul, Nagendra Pattnaik, Deen Dayal Jain, and Prabhanjan Tripathy — were felicitated for their contributions to social service.
The first session of the event was inaugurated by Jagannath Mahapatra, with Nirupama Tripathy presiding and GVV Ranjita managing the stage.
There were also traditional pitha (rice cakes), jhoti (folk art), attire, and music competitions, where outstanding participants were awarded prizes.
The literary and poetry recitation session was presided over by Ramprasad Kala Patra, and the session was hosted by poet Sabyasachi Bishoyi. Guest speakers included Dr. Bijay Mishra, Vijay Choudhury, former Odisha Sahitya Akademi member Jemamani Bishoyi, Bulu Hota, poet Simon Bitika, and Sudhiraj Raut.
Comedy performances were presented by Gopal Krishna Samantray and Tuna Tun Tun. A musical variety program was also held under the coordination of Udit Bhanu, with performances by vocalist Suresh Mishra, Kasturi Rath, and Bijay Panigrahi.
Judges for the various competitions included Vijay Choudhury, Jemamani Bishoyi, Suresh Mishra, Kasturi Rath, Bijay Panigrahi, Kaushalya Pradhani, P. Sushila, Akhil Bhatt, Manoj Pattnaik, and Sharmistha Deo.
The overall coordination of the event was supported by Satyanarayan Nayak (Principal, Vidyarthi Science College), Dr. Bijay Mishra, Prof. Akhula Bhatt, Deendayal Jain, Sharatchandra Mahapatra, Udit Bhanu, and Babita Sahu.