Bhubaneswar, Sept. 1: The Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra awards for 2016 will be conferred on two artistes - Kishor Kumar Mohanty and Jharana Das - for their contribution to the fields of dance and cinema, respectively.

Kelucharan's son and disciple Ratikant Mohapatra instituted the award in 1995 in recognition of the cultural personalities' contribution to the fields of dance, music, cinema and theatre. This year, awards will also be presented to young artistes, who have created a niche for themselves in the field of performing arts.

The Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Yuva Pratibha Samman will be presented to Rajib Bhattacharya and Madhusmita Mohanty for Odissi dance, P. Praveen Kumar for Bharatanatyam and Rupak Kumar Parida for Odissi music.

"From this year, the lifetime achievement award amount has been increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh. Also, the young awardees will receive Rs 25,000 each," said Mohapatra.

Additionally, one more award has been instituted in due recognition of long commitment to the practice and performance of traditional Odissi dance. The award titled "Nrutya Kala Samman" will be conferred on Madhubrata Satapathy.

The five-day annual soiree will begin on September 5 and witness well-known artistes in the fields of classical dance and music staging their recitals. The award ceremony will be hosted on the concluding day wherein chief minister Naveen Patnaik will confer the honours.

During the festival, there will be performances by famous artistes every day at Rabindra Mandap.

Artistes such as Asimbandhu Bhattacharya, Rahul Acharya, Sathyanarayan Raju, Meera Das and Aruna Mohanty will perform during the fest.

"The festival's aim is to sensitise audiences, especially the younger generation, so that they develop enthusiasm for the subtle flavours of classical art forms," said Mohapatra.