Award-Winning Odia Writer Gourahari Das Receives Sarala Puraskar

Bhubaneswar: Eminent Odia fiction writer Dr Gourahari Das was conferred with the prestigious Sarala Puraskar for his short-story collection ‘Bagha O Anyanya Galpa’, which was published by Timepass Publication in 2018.

Das received a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh and a citation at the 43rd Sarala Puraskar award-giving ceremony organised by Indian Metals Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT) – the charitable wing of Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys Ltd – in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.

Addressing the ceremony as chief guest, renowned Hindi writer Udayan Vajpayee said that literature enables people to find truth. It stimulates and stirs the inner feelings and conscience of the reader, he said.

Gourahari Das was also named as recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize for the year 2021 for ‘Chheli Chareibara Dina’ — his Odia translation of Malyalam novel ‘Aadujeevitham’ (Goat Days) by Benyamin.

London-based eminent painter and writer Prafulla Mohanti and Odissi music Guru Ghanshyam Panda were also honoured with ‘Ila-Bansidhar Panda Kala Samman’ for their valuable contribution in the field of art and music, respectively.

They received a cash award of Rs 1.5 lakh each and citations.

The annual Sarala Puraskar, instituted by eminent Odia industrialist Dr Bansidhar Panda and his wife Ila Panda in 1980, has awarded continuously since then by IMPaCT.