Bhubaneswar: Veteran and young singers came together on the same platform to render classical songs during a two-day festival that concluded here on Saturday.

Sangeet Sadhak Parisad - a leading cultural organisation dedicated to promoting, preserving and popularising classical music and other traditional forms of fine arts and literature - organised the festival to promote various forms of Indian classical music such as dhrupad, dhamar, thumri, ghazal, khayal and bhajan.

One of the highlights of the event was a group performance by the students of the institute. The song titled "Bou" was an ode to mothers.

The Sangeet Sadhak Parisad also felicitated sculptor Baba Yogendra of New Delhi, classical musician Damodar Hota and lyricist Sanjaya Sathpathy.

"The aim of the event was to popularise rare forms of classical music. Moreover, it also let the music lovers in the city witness and experience performances by great artistes," said Krushna Satapathy of the organisation.

A number of songs based on intricate ragas - such as Gowda, Baradi, Panchama, Dhanashri, Karnata, Bhairavi - were performed. Odia bhajans were also perfomed.

A compilation of 108 Odia devotional songs called "Nila Paduan" was also released on the occasion.

The audience enjoyed the performance of the singers.

"The various musical forms helped us learn about various combinations of taal (rhythm) and laay (tempo) used in classical music," said Manoj Nayak, a young singer from the city.

"This was an opportunity for us to gather and take lessons from the senior musicians. I got a chance to meet a number of singers and instrumentalists and learn about the latest trends in the field," said another singer, Monalisa Jena.

The Sangeet Sadhak Parisad was founded and promoted by noted classical singer Devendra Narayan Sathpathy.