Bhubaneswar, Sept. 7: The annual Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award Festival is under way in the city and the popular festival is attracting a large number of people to Rabindra Mandap. The festival began on Saturday evening and has showcased four eminent artistes already.

The 21st edition of the festival began with an Odissi performance by Kelucharan Mohapatra's main disciple Sharmila Biswas.

"She has over the years explored the myriad hues of Odissi traditional repertoire laced with ashtapadis and compositions of medieval poets such as Jayadeva and Upendra Bhanja. She was thus the first choice for the inaugural evening," said Kelucharan's son Ratikant Mohapatra, the host of the festival.

Biswas presented a pure dance item on raag Madhuri followed by the romantic Pasyati Dishi Dishi abhinaya composition from Jayadev's Gita Govinda. The item depicted separation, followed by the unity of Radha and Krishna. While the music was composed by Bhubaneswar Mishra, the choreography was Kelucharan Mohapatra's.

Carnatic vocalist Pandit O.S. Arun weaved magic with his sonorous voice on Saturday. He sang Swagatam Krishna Saranagatam Krishna, Priya Charusila and Aaj Ayea Shyam More.

On Sunday evening, Mohiniattam artiste Mandakani Trivedi from Mumbai cast her spell on the audience with her portrayal of mythological tales through dance. Local mardala player Guru Satchidananda Das's captivating recital followed her performance. "Every year we get to witness the best performers in classical music and dance forms at this festival," said Dhruv Tripathy, a youngster in the audience.

The festival will continue till September 9 and features eminent names such as Pandit Kumar Bose in tabla and Bharatnatyam artiste Vidya Subramanian among others. The host group, Srjan, an Odissi institute founded by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, will perform on the valedictory evening along with award ceremony felicitating veteran music director Shantanu Mohapatra and Odissi dance guru Giridhari Nayak.