In the last five-six decades, Odisha has been in the news for many right and quite often, the wrong reasons. But one thing has remained constant – our artists and artisans have always made us proud.
Odisha has always been known as the land of art and culture. Over the years, our artists and artisans have earned national and international fame for their work. As of now, Odia artisans have won 180 awards at the national level.
Among them, four have won Padma awards and 11 have won the prestigious Shilpi Guru Award. Following in this tradition, this year, eight artisans have been nominated for National Awards for the year 2017. Five, out of the eight, will receive the National Handicraft Award and three will get the Merit Certificate for 2017.
List of artisans to get the National Award 2017:
- Rakesh Kumar Maharana (Category-4) – Stone carving Kandarpa Hasti
- Biranchi Narayan Behera (Category-6) – Palm Leaf Engraving Krishna Leela
- Pradeep Kumar Nayak (Category -19) – Straw Craft Kandarpa Ratha
- Sabita Mahapatra (Reserved female) – Pattachitra Krushna Leela
- Swarnalata Mahapatra (Reserved female) – Tasar Painting (Thia Badhia)
List of artisans to get National Merit Certificate 2017:
- Mukund Rana (Category -5) – Terracotta
- Raghu Rana (Category -5) – Terracotta craft
- Aparajita Parida (Category- 6) – Pattachitra engraving
The complete list of awardees is available on the website: www.handicrafts.nic.in .
So many artisans to be nominated for the National Awards and recognition for the year 2017 is said to be an exceptionally great achievement for Odisha. Before this, six artisans were nominated for National Awards in 2009, five for the year 2010, five for 2011 too, four for 2012, just two for 2013, one for 2014 and four for the year 2015.
Here’s wishing our artisans for their achievement. Odisha will always be proud of them for earning global recognition for Odisha and never letting us down!
