Mystic Kalinga Festival Will Hold Fourth Edition

4th Mystic Kalinga Festival: A Festival of Verse, Music, Dance and Discussion, to be held at Swosti Premium, Bhubaneswar from February 8th to 9th 2020. The central theme of this edition of Mystic Kalinga Festival is "Divine Madness: Knowledge, Ecstasy, and Transformation".

The Mystic Kalinga Festival (MKF) returns to the temple city, smart city, the sports city and the city of culture and spirituality, the capital city of Odisha. During the two days, Bhubaneshwar will witness over 100 renowned writers, poets and artistes performing and speaking at the two-day event. Eminent speakers include the likes of Amish Tripathi, Purushottam Agrawal, Kailash Kher, Subha Mudgal, Arundhathi Subramaniam, Mooralala Marwada, Smita Bellur, Sanjukta Wagh,Hitesh Dutia, Madhavas Rock Band and many others .

The Mystic Kalinga Literary Awards have been instituted in 2017 to recognize and celebrate prolific and inspiring writers, poets and performers. From this year Prize money of Rupees One Lakh each, along with a khadi shawl and certificate for the laureate. Two awards will be presented including the Mystic Kalinga Literary Award - Odia, which will be conferred on a person making towering contributions to the Odia language, literature and culture. The second award is Mystic Kalinga Literary Award - Indian and Global Languages, which will conferred on a personality with a corpus work in any Indian or international language. An international jury has been instituted to nominate and finalize these awardees. The awardees will be chosen keeping in mind their contribution to their specific language and genre, as well as the contemporary appeal and relevance of their work.

Mystic Kalinga Festival, Founder and President Mr. Rashmi Ranjan Parida highlighted the need to focus on literature especially on history, mysticism, music, dance, and spiritual literature. He expressed happiness on the huge positive response that the last three editions of Mystic Kalinga Festival has received from audiences across India and the world. .

Announcing the dates of the festival, Director and Founder, Mr. Rashmi Ranjan Parida said, "Mystic Kalinga Festival celebrates the spirit of mystics, philosophers and poet saints, reflecting on the lyrical and creative aspects of their work and teachings, in a fulfilling two-day programme. The works and philosophies of these mystics is all about inclusiveness - and every year, Mystic Kalinga Festival celebrates this philosophy, bringing to music, dance, poetry-lovers an unforgettable experience of listening to leading exponents of the Music, Dance, art, poetry and literature. The Festival celebrates the uniqueness of Mystic India".

The Festival features the inimitable Shubha Mudgal who will share her personal understanding of bhakti, and what it means to walk the mystical path as a contemporary female seeker and musician. Filmmaker, singer and pioneer of the Kabir Project, Smita Belur will discuss how the mystic poets swept into her life and led her into a voyage she never anticipated. Leading story teller Amish Tripathi will reflect the traditions and works on Rama, including the Valmiki Ramayana as a biographical account of the personality before he came to be revered as a 'God'.

Acclaimed poets, translators and scholars - including Ramakant Rath, Sitakant Mohapatra, Aruna Mohanty, Paramita Satpathy, Sachidananda Mohanty, Kedar Mishra, and Bishnu Narayan Mohapatra - will read and discuss the extraordinary verses of some of the greatest mystic poets of this subcontinent, from Appar and Sambandar to Tulsidas and Ravidas, from Adi Shankara and Jayadeva to Tukaram and Lal Ded, from Meerabai to Janabai, from Salabega to Abhirami Bhattar, and several others.

Every year the Mystic Kalinga Festival hosts a variety of sessions focused books, themes, subjects and literature from India and across the world in an effort to offer a deep understanding and appreciation of mysticism.

Welcome to a festival that unpacks the many nuances of this strange and fascinating tradition of Bhakti, and to a conclave of extraordinary talents, perspectives and performances. Welcome to Mystic Kalinga 2019!