BHUBANESWAR: As many as 15 craftspersons from Odisha were conferred the Shilp Guru and National Awards for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019 by Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar at New Delhi on Monday.
Of the 30 Shilp Gurus from across the country who were selected for the honour for three years, two master craftspersons are from Odisha. They are Bijay Kumar Parida and Maheswar Parida (both for the year 2018) who excel in palm leaf engraving and stone carving respectively.
The Shilp Guru awards, constituted in the year 2002, is given to legendary master craftspersons in recognition of excellent craftsmanship, product excellence and the role played by them as gurus in the continuance of crafts to other trainee artisans as a vital part of traditional heritage. They received a gold coin, `2 lakh prize money, a tamrapatra, shawl and a certificate.
The national awards for 2017 were conferred on Rakesh Maharana (stone carving), Biranchi Narayan Behera (painting), Pradeepta Kumar Nayak (straw craft), Sabita Mahapatra (Pattachitra) and Swarnalata Mahapatra (Tasar painting). Ranjan Moharana (stone carving), Santosh Senapati (palm leaf engraving), Sanghamitra Maharana (Pattachitra), Rajendra Kumar Meher (natural fibre tassar silk) and Kuni Patra (straw craft) got the award for 2018. Similarly, three artists Susanta Das (stone carving), Bijaylaxmi Swain and Swapna Manjari Nayak (both pal leaf engraving) received the awards for 2019. The award, instituted in 1965, consists of `1 lakh prize money, a tamrapatra, shawl and a certificate.
Both Shilp Guru and National Awards were instituted by the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts).