Bhubaneswar: Odisha Lalit Kala Akademi’s highest award in the field of art and sculpture, the ‘Dharmapada award’ was given to seven eminent Odia artists on Monday. The award has been provided for their lifetime achievement to their respective fields.
Odisha Culture and Tourism Minister Jyotiprakash Panigrahi visited the awardees’ houses to felicitate them.
Dharmapada award was given to Gokul Bihari Patnaik (2009), Asim Basu (2010), Durga Prasad Das (2011), Sudarshan Sahu (2012), Padma Bhusan Jatin Das (2013), Dinanath Pathi (2014) and Padma Bibhusan Raghunath Mahapatra (2015). Gokul Bihari Patnaik, Asim Basu and Dinanath Pathi got the award posthumously.
Late Patnaik’s wife Anusuya Patnaik, late Basu’s wife Geeta Basu and late Pathi’s son Soubhagya Kumar Pathi received the awards.
As Dr. Jatin Das could not be present in Bhubaneswar in the wake of Coronavirus pandemic, a representative of Lalit Kala Akademi will go to New Delhi to present the award to him.
Odisha Lalit Kala Akademi president Padma Shri Sudarshan Patnaik, and Akademi secretary Gajendra Sahu were present on this occasion.
Ms Kalinga