NABARANGPUR: Odissi Musicologist Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi and weightlifter Purna Chandra Bidika were presented the Mondei-2011 Samman on Thursday.
Both belong to the undivided Koraput district. Laxmi Narayan Nayak, Revenue Divisional Commissioner (South), felicitated them during the district cultural festival.
Bidika said the hardships of life which included lifting of heavy boulders in their agriculture field prepared him for the international stage of powerlifting.