Bhubaneswar, 1 September (H.S.) The Akhil Bharatiya Sahitya Parishad, Odisha, one of the nation's premier literary organizations, hosted its Annual Function and Youth Literary Conference in honor of the Jayanti of Mahapurush Atibadi Jagannath Das at the Regional Institute of Education auditorium in Bhubaneswar.

The event was inaugurated by the distinguished litterateur Pujya Sant Shrimad Sanat Sujatananda Das Maharaj. Attendees included Dr. Abhay Kumar Nayak, President of the Parishad; Dr. Santosh Kumar Mahapatra, General Secretary; Shri Narayan Nayak, Organizing Secretary; Dr. Satya Narayan Acharya, Professor at Tirupati Central Sanskrit University; Dr. Dillip Kumar Swain, Head of the Odia Department at Samant Chandrasekhar College; Dr. Kalpataru Nayak, Head of the Odia Department at Baudh Model Degree College; noted writer Arun Kumar Sahu; and various other scholars. They engaged in discussions about the Odia Bhagavata, the literary contributions of Atibadi Jagannath Das, and the vital role of young writers in nation-building.

Speakers highlighted that Jagannath Das ranks among the greatest figures in Odia literature and proposed that his Jayanti be recognized as World Book Day.

The program was coordinated by Smt. Pratibha Priyadarshini, Dr. Raghunath Ojha, Dr. Anup Kumar Martha, and Venkata Balaji Vishwanath Shatapathi. During the event, Dr. Nirod Kumar Mantri received the Yuva Pratibha Samman, while Prof. Jharna Nath was awarded the Yuva Saurabh Samman.

Dignitaries also launched several publications, including the Parishad’s journal Dig Digant, Chikitsa Manjari by Shri Gopinath Shadangi, History of Modern Odia Literature by Dr. Nirod Kumar Mantri, and Kandha by poet Bipin Bihari Raut, among other poetry collections.

The conference featured 20 research papers presented by young scholars, with approximately 200 young writers, poets, essayists, columnists, and researchers from across Odisha participating in the event.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda