Konark Dance Festival

Konark Dance & Music Festival

Status| Active
Genre| Cultural Festival
Begins| 1 December
Ends| 5 December
Frequency| Annually
Venue| Konark Natya Mandap
Location(s)| Konark, Odisha
Coordinates| 19°53′46″N 86°05′01″E﻿ / ﻿19.896176°N 86.083599°E﻿ / 19.896176; 86.083599
Country| India
Inaugurated| 1986
Founder| Guru Gangadhar Pradhan
Most recent| 2023[1]
Previous event| 2022
Activity| Indian Classical Dance Performances
Patron(s)| Odisha Tourism
Organised by| Odissi Research Centre
People| Kelucharan Mohapatra
Website| konarkfestival.com

Konark Dance Festival is a five-day dance festival held every year in the month of December mostly from 1 to 5 in backdrop of the Sun temple in Konark, Odisha in India. It is one of the biggest dance festivals held in Odisha.[2]

The exquisite 'Salamander' or the 'dancing hall' of this shrine is an architectural wonder. Every inch of its walls has been covered with fine artistic designs of ancient times. Musicians playing drums, cymbals, and other musical instruments adorn the sculptures in Odissi dance poses.[3]

Many celebrated dancers from all over the country perform at this venue. Since 1986, this festival has been organized in the state jointly by Odisha Tourism[4] and Odissi Research Centre[5] to promote the diverse Indian dance heritage as well as the popularity of Konark Temple and Odisha as a tourist destination.[6]

Along with this, during the same period, International Sand Art Festival also takes place.[7]

The Sand festival celebrates sand sculptures produced by skilful sand artists. Not just the traditional sand sculptures, you may expect sand, stone, bronze or wood, created by skilful sand artists. The International Sand Artist Festival celebrates the spectacular displays of sand artists from India and from many other countries. As many as 30 Indian and 10 foreign artists participate in this Competition-turned-Festival. Best sand artists from Mexico, Spain, Singapore, France, Norway, Germany, Netherland & USA and remaining 20 artists are from different states of India usually grace the golden beach of Chandradrabhaga.

The International Sand Art Festival was started in 2015 on the Chandrabhaga beach, a short distance from Konark, Puri, Odisha, India. It was a part of the Konark Dance Festival that is organized during the same time. Every year, the theme for the Artists hover around the burgeoning issues of the Earth.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Konark dance, sand art festivals inaugurated by CM Naveen Patnaik". The New Indian Express. 2 December 2023.
2. ^ "Konark Festival | Odisha Tourism". odishatourism.gov.in.
3. ^ Nayak, Prakash. "Konark Dance & Music Festival". konarkfestival.com.
4. ^ "Odisha Tourism". www.odishatourism.gov.in.
5. ^ "Welcome to Guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra Odissi Research Centre". www.odissiresearchcentre.org. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011.
6. ^ "Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik inaugurates 21st Konark Dance Festival, Orissa Current News". Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
7. ^ "Odisha Tourism : International Sand Art Festival". odishatourism.gov.in. Archived from the original on 23 December 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2020.

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