2nd Mardaraj Festival held at K.C. Public School B’pur 

Berhampur, 12/1 (Abhijit Kar): Mardaraj festival on the occasion of 124th birth anniversary of Raja Bahadur Ramachandra Mardaraj Deo was organized at Khallikot Mardaraj Sanskarti parisad on Friday evening at K.C. Public School premises near Tata Benz square. Retired Chief Information Officer Odisha Sunil Kumar Mishra attended the festival as the chief guest, State Planning Board member Dr. Ramesh Chandra Chow Patnaik, Khallikot MLA Mrs. Suryamani Baidya, State Cashew Development Corporation Chairman Subas Chandra Maharna and Professor Bhagwan Sahu Major, Head of Department of History, Tamil Nadu Central University as the chief speaker tributes mentioning the role of Raja Ramachandra Mardaraj Deo in the creation of Asmita Odisha. A part from this, the guests presented an informative speech regarding the role of the Mardaraj family in the formation of Odisha and the contribution of the Khallikot clan. In this event held under the patronage of Dr. Saket Rama Rao, Executive Chairman of Mardaraj Cultural Council, secretary of the Council, Sudshanshu Shekhar Sahu, presented details and informed about the program of the Council.

Organized under the coordination of internationally renowned stage announcer and prominent culturalist Harushikesh Panigarahi, this year’s ‘Mardaraj Honour’ was awarded to Professor Manoj Ranjan Nauak, Founder and President of Odisha University of Education and Research. Ambika Prasad Das, head of ‘Prameya’ Berhampur edition, received the said honour. Similarly, on this occasion, Dr. Kulamani Ojha, Dr. Harishikesh Panda, Dr. Siddharth Shankar Padhi, Dr. The memoir ‘Mardaraj’ edited by Prafulla Chandra Mohanty and Ashok Kumar Mishra and the book ‘Role of Raja Ramchandra Mardaraj Deo in the Making of Odisha Province’ compiled by Professor Major Rama Raman Padhi were released to the guests. Professor Bishnu Charan Choudhury, Dr. Laxmikant Tripathi, Dr. Srikant Mahapatra, Prof. Manmath Padhi, Prof. Lakshmi Narayan Raut, Dr. Krishna Prasad Mahapatra, Sushant Das were present. Finally, Odishi music, Odishi dance by artists from Bhubaneswar were performed by K.C. Public students performed dance music. The Chairman of K.C. Public School Ashok Kumar Mishra and Sudshanshu Shekhar Sahu along with the teachers of the school contributed to the organization of the festival.