Bhubaneswar, Aug. 31: The annual Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award Festival will showcase prominent artistes from across the country this year. The five-day cultural extravaganza will begin on September 5.

The awards to be given during the festival, which is in its 23rd year, were announced recently. The Nalco Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award will be presented to Dhruba Charan Biswal for dance and Shyamamani Devi for music.

The award was instituted in the year 1995 by Ratikant Mohapatra, son and disciple of Kelucharan and director of Srjan, in recognition of contribution of cultural personalities to fields of dance, music, cinema and theatre.

Since last year, awards are also being given to young artistes who have created a niche for themselves in the field of performing arts.

The Nalco Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Yuva Pratibha Samman will be presented to Lingaraj Pradhan of Bhubaneswar and Namrata Mehta of Mumbai for Odissi dance, Jyotsna Jagannathan of Bangalore for Bharatanatyam and Jateen Kumar Sahoo of Mumbai for Odissi music.

'The aim of the festival is to give the audience an exposure to classical music of the highest level. We aspire to sensitise audiences, especially the younger ones, and students so that an enthusiasm for the subtle flavours of classical art forms is planted in them,' said Mohapatra.

There will be a special presentation by Srjan - 'Mahanayaka Bijayananda', a thematic presentation in Odissi dance of the life and work of leader Biju Patnaik.