38th Basanta Muduli Memorial Ceremony on December 7: Young Poet Amarendra Madhab Dash to Be Felicitated

Balasore, 4/12 (Krushna Kumar Mohanty): The 38th Basanta Muduli Memorial Ceremony will be held on Sunday, December 7 at the Buddha Temple Auditorium in Bhubaneswar. On this occasion, young poet Amarendra Madhab Dash will receive the Basanta Muduli Poetry Award, according to a statement by Krushna Kumar Mohanty, Secretary of the Basanta Muduli Smruti Sansad.

This year’s literary memorial event is being organised jointly by the Odisha Sahitya Akademi and the Basanta Muduli Smruti Sansad. The day-long programme will be inaugurated at 10 a.m. by Shri Suryabanshi Suraj, Minister for Odia Language, Literature and Culture; Higher Education; Sports and Youth Services. The inaugural session will feature Professor Prafulla Kumar Mohanty as Chief Guest and Dr Iti Samanta, Editor of Kadambini, as Distinguished Guest. Writer Pabitra Panigrahi will preside over the session.

The second session will begin at 11.30 a.m. and will host a symposium titled “Revolutionary Voices in Odia Poetry and Poet Basanta Muduli,” chaired by noted poet Shatrughan Pandaba. Dr Abhiram Biswal, Dr Benudhar Padhi, and Dr Faniindra Bhusan Nanda will join as speakers.

The concluding session will start at 2 p.m., with eminent writer Debadas Chhotaray presiding. In this session, over forty poets who received the Basanta Muduli Poetry Award between 1987 and 2025 will recite their poems. Poet and lyricist Bijaya Mall will coordinate the session.

Two books will be released at the ceremony: the English collection Selected Poems of Basanta Muduli, published by Time Pass, and Chihna Chaalisha, featuring two poems each by the forty award-winning poets.

On behalf of the Basanta Muduli Smruti Sansad, coordinator Arun Khilar has invited literature lovers across the state to attend this important cultural gathering.