Bhubaneswar: The Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award Festival began here on Wednesday with a striking Odissi performance by danseuse Rajashri Praharaj.

Rajashri commenced her recital with a pushpanjali (floral tribute) followed by a dance piece called Hamsadhwani Pallavi set to Raga Hamsadhwani on ektaal.

The piece was choreographed by the legendary Kelucharan Mohapatra to the music composition of Bhubanewar Mishra. She captivated the audience with her technical virtuosity and nuanced expressions.

Accompanied by Ratikant Mohapatra on the mardala, Ramesh Chandra Das and Agnimitra Behera on the violin, Srinibas Satapathy on the flute and Rupak Kumar Parida on vocals, she enacted the abhinaya Sita Haran to conclude her recital.

"In this episode from the Ramayana, I tried to impersonate the characters of Ram, Lakshman, Sita, Ravan and Jatayu together to showcase the varieties in the dance form," she said.

Her performance gave a befitting opening to the festival. The second performance of the evening was Carnatic music Jugalbandi by the husband-wife duo of Jayanthi Kumaresh on the veena and R. Kumaresh on the violin.

Two foremost instrumentalists in their respective fields, they presented a soulful duet accompanied by Jayachandra Rao and Krishnaswami Sankararaman on the mridangam and ghatam respectively.

Their captivating rendition of classical music, exploring the intricacies of both instruments, showed their years of experience and expertise in their respective fields and portrayed a celebration of music as a way of life.

The Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Awards for 2018 will be conferred on two artistes - Lingaraj Behera and Satchi Das - for their contribution to the fields of dance and theatre respectively.

Last year, the awards were presented to Dhruba Charan Biswal for dance and Shyamamani Devi for music.

There will be a dance and musical recital every evening during the five-day festival being hosted at Rabindra Mandap here.