Literary Festival Celebrated Mystic Literature

A two-day long literary festival that celebrated bhakti, was held in the city recently. Known as the Mystic Kalinga Festival, the literary event brought together many acclaimed writers, poets, translators, scholars, storytellers and performers together.

The festival that has been organised for last three years in the city, was themed around the topic “Divine Madness: Knowledge, Ecstasy and Transformation” this year.

Renowned literary figures like Prof Manoj Das, Sitakant Mohapatra, Ramakant Rath , Prativa Ray, Purushottam Agrawal, Jayant Mohapatra, Devdas Chhotray, Gourhari Das, Himanshu Vajpayee and Vedanta Bharadwaj along with several others from across the country.

These eminent literary figures read, recited and discussed the extraordinary verse of some of the greatest mystic poets of the subcontinent, from Kabir to Tulsi Das, from Adi Shankara and Jayadev to Tukaram and Lal Deb, from Meerabai to Janabai, from Salabega to Abhirami Bhaattar and several others.

“This unique festival which is one-of-its-kind in the state, is a celebration of bhakti – that great tearing disruptive experience of human longing. This festival is the way to celebrate the mystic poets of our past and how they have helped shape our society through their mystic creations,” said Rashmi Ranjan Parida, organiser.