Catch the Odisha Festival at this year's Ratha Yatra celebration organised by Utkala

The Ratha Yatra will take place on July 4; the chariots will start from Central Park in Salt Lake and conclude at Swabhumi, where the deities will stay until July 12.

During this period, they will hold the Odisha Festival, where guests will be introduced to music, dancing, food and textiles of the state.

Some of the key programmes highlighting the culture of Odisha include conch-shell and 'ranpa' dance troupes from Berhampur (Brahmapur), Ghumura folk dancers from Bhawanipatna, kirtan singers, etc.

Headline performances include a 'jugalbandi' between tabla exponent Pandit Bickram Ghosh and santoor maestro Pandit Tarun Bhattacharya,and bhajan singing Shantilata Barik and Subhas Das, and devotional song by Guru Baishnab Kailash.

There will also be various competitions, including Devotional Song Competition, Classical Dance Competition and Cooking Competition.

The organisers will award the annual Utkala Sanman to Bhubaneswar-born artist Jagananth Panda who earned his Bachelor’s degree in Sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S University, Baroda, in 1994.

The details of the celebration and cultural programmes was recently shared at a meeting which was attended by Kashinath Behera (IAS-retired), Ramesh Chandra Pradhan (Secretary, Utkala), and office-bearers of Sri Jagananth Seva Samity -- Chandra Sekhar  Panigrahi (President), Parshuram Bisoyi (Vice-President) and Pradeep Mahapatra (Convener).

(Reporting by Avirupa Das)