Dedicated to Lord Jagannath: Puri Literary Festival

Puri, 20/4: The Puri Literary Festival has not just concluded, but has been dedicated to Lord Jagannath. According to the festival’s director, Om Priyadarshi, it is now up to the Lord to continue or guide the event each year. Organized by the Puri Study Foundation in collaboration with the Government of India’s Department of Youth Affairs and the Government of Odisha’s Department of Odia Language, Literature and Culture, the festival included discussions on eight diverse topics such as “Colonialism and the Global South: Reimagining Multipolarity,” “Odisha: A Socio-Cultural Perspective – Radhalayand and Beyond,” “Jagannath: The Identity of Odisha,” and “Resilience: Building a Climate-Resilient India.”

The inaugural session brought together personalities from various fields including art, literature, law, performance, and sports. Notable attendees included Sehajada Punawala, Odia film actor Sabyasachi Mishra, Padma Shri Sudha Singh, Navin Saxena, Jeetu Kawar, and Dr. Nidhi Garg. In the session on “Jagannath: The Identity of Odisha,” participants included Dr. Bhaskar Mishra, senior journalist Asit Mohanty, Harihar Hota, Ashray Mishra, and Anil Dhir. The panel was moderated by Panchami Manokil Mahashaya, who also spoke about how Jagannath Dham in Puri emotionally connects people across the globe.

Today’s program featured the book launch of “The Myth, Motif, and Metaphor of Women’s Lives” authored by Dr. Henrietta Mishra of Samanta Chandra Sekhar College, Puri. Books authored by Prayokta Kohli and Shri Deep Haldar were also awarded in the Puri Literary Festival Book Awards. Smt. Shanti Rath and Shri Gyana Hota were honored with the Ramakanta Rath Literary Award. In the concluding session, Om Priyadarshi Chhotoray and Milind Marathe presented a detailed report of the entire event.

The three-day first edition of the Puri Literary Festival achieved remarkable success with the participation of various companies and organizations including NALCO, MCL, Torrent, Vedanta, Adani, NSDC, S.R. Rungta Group, JSW, Praj, Reliance Private Limited, Edicle India Limited, B.R. Haat, NBT India, ISDM, Celsius, Argus Digital, Jindal Global University, Crossword Publications, Odisha Signo, Indian Oil, ONGC, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Power, Indraprastha Gas, GAIL India, and Oil India.