Bhawanipatna, YNN: A one-day national symposium on the theme “Portrayal of Tribal Life and Characters in Odia Literature” was jointly organised by the Sahitya Akademi and the Department of Odia at Maa Manikeswari University, Bhawanipatna. The inaugural session was chaired by Dr Gourahari Das, Convener of the Odia Advisory Board for the Sahitya Akademi, and formally inaugurated by Dr Nibedita Nath, the Vice-Chancellor of the university.
Delivering the keynote address, eminent folk literature researcher Parameswar Mund offered a detailed exposition on the depiction of tribal life and characters. In his address, Dr Das drew upon examples from Odia folklore and Western storytelling. The welcome address was delivered by Kshetrabasi Naik, Assistant Editor at the Sahitya Akademi in Kolkata, while Dr Manoj Kumar Panda, a member of the Odia Advisory Board, set the context in his introductory remarks. Dr Panda emphasised the need to examine tribal life in the present context and called for literature to reflect the changes occurring in tribal communities against a transforming world. The inaugural session was compered by Dr Pratyasha Dhal and the vote of thanks was proposed by Dr Pallishree Pattanayak, Head of the Department of Odia.
The first technical session was chaired by senior journalist Uma Shankar Kar, during which three papers were presented: Dr Kautuka Pandar spoke on the portrayal of tribal life and characters in the Odia novel; Dr Pratyasha Dhal discussed images of changing tribal life in twenty-first-century Odia short stories; and Dr Rajendra Padhy addressed the portrayal of tribal life in Odia literature. The vote of thanks for this session was proposed by Dr Sagarika Dalai.
The second technical session was chaired by Dr Gopinath Bag, Associate Professor at Sambalpur University. Papers were presented by Dolamani Dharua on the portrayal of tribal life and characters in Odia autobiographies, Saimon Bidika on tribal culture in Odia literature, and Dr Sureswari Bagh on tribal life in Odia short stories. The vote of thanks for this session was extended by Subrat Kumar Majhi.
The symposium was conducted under the supervision of Registrar Dr Gunanidhi Naik and concluded successfully with the support of faculty members including Renuka Dakua, Ramashankar Meher and Balmiki Karuan, alongside research scholars and students from the PG Department of Odia Language, Literature and Translation.
