Sambalpur, 18th Nov 2025: The second day of the Sambalpur Festival organized by the Sambalpur Cultural Council. The day’s events were held on the main stage of the festival.
The workshop and poetry recitation programme, conducted under the leadership of committee convener Manas Kumar Shadangy, began with a welcome speech by festival coordinator Dr. Sapan Mishra.
Guests and Participants
The chief guest was Professor Dr. Gopinath Bag, while the honored guests included:
Dr. Pradeep Nath
Poet Ashok Pujahari
Playwright Rajesh Karia
Educationists Bhakta Prasad Nanda, Dr. Lakshminarayan Panigrahi, and Sadhakshree Sadananda Panda
The poetry recitation session was coordinated by:
Poetess Anupama Bishwal
Poet Firoz Patel
Lecturer Tushar Ranjan Barik
Poet Taranisen Meher
For the successful execution of this large poets’ meet, committee co-conveners Prabeen Supakar, Rajesh Chaini, and Jayshree Purohit offered special support. Hundreds of poets and writers from almost all districts of Western Odisha participated.
Evening Cultural Programme
In the evening, the cultural programme began under the supervision of Ahetal Mishra, with Sambalpuri songs themed on the banks of the Mahanadi.
Vocalists including Lalita Mishra, Soumyajit Badapanda, Arun Rajhans, Swagatika Panda, Rinku Meher, Suman Meher, and Montu Mahakur performed Sambalpuri songs.
The SP Fashion Group organized a ramp show.
This was followed by a music performance by Shashwat Tripathy and his team. Various dance groups presented Jhumar, Pancharasi, and other traditional dance forms.
Inauguration of the Festival
The Sambalpur Festival was inaugurated the previous evening at Veer Birsa Munda Ground. Renowned Chhattisgarh Sufi singer Padma Shri Dr. Bharati Bandhu inaugurated this week-long cultural celebration.
On this occasion, distinguished dignitaries such as:
Coordinator Dr. Sapan Mishra
Sadhakshree Sadananda Panda
Sanskriti Ratna Kartik Prasad Bahidar
Educationist Bhakta Prasad Nanda
were present, among others.
The cultural programmes began with the devotional song “Juhar Ma’ Samaleswari” sung by Hamid Rehman.
This was followed by Sambalpuri song performances by:
Kamina Barei
Nirmal Chand
Kamini Dash
Bharat Sahu
Shubhalaxmi Behera
Asharani Panda
Ajay Kumar Nath, and others.
Later, Padma Shri Bharati Bandhu presented a soulful Sufi music performance. Various dance troupes staged Bajaniya, Pancharasi, and Chutkuchuta danc
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