CUTTACK: Showcasing the best of India’s classical dance forms, the five-day Konark Dance festival will be hosted at open air auditorium with the Konark Sun temple as the backdrop from Tuesday. However, the festival will have only around 600 spectators in view of the Covid-19 restrictions.
While Odissi will be featured on all the five days, the festival will also see Bharatnatyam, Manipuri, Kuchipudi, Kathak performances. Dancers of Orissa Dance Academy will open the festival this year with a new production titled ‘A Question...Eka Prashna’. The Sand Art festival, too, will begin at the Chandrabhaga beach on Tuesday with participation of 70 sand artists.
Meanwhile, the Puri administration in pursuance of Orissa High Court decision on November 25, has decided that both the Konark Dance and Sand Art festivals will be organised with a lesser number of people in the audience and stalls on the Chandrabhaga beach respectively than what was decided earlier.
After submitting a representation to the Puri Collector, Brundaban Das Ajad, a resident of Cuttack city, had filed a PIL in the Court seeking direction to the authorities to withdraw approval to conduct the festivals.
The Court on November 25 disposed of the petition by directing the Collector to take a decision on it in accordance with the law. Complying with the Court, the Collector disposed the representation with an order that the number of seats at the venue of Konark Dance festival will be reduced from 2,000 to 600.