BHUBANESWAR: The 61st death anniversary of renowned artist Basanta Kumar Panda was observed in a befitting manner at Suvadra Art Gallery here Friday.
People from all sections of the society paid rich tributes to this great son of the state. Lalitkala academy in collaboration with Suvadra Art Gallery organised elaborate programmes to mark the famous artist’s death anniversary.
Odisha’s prominent artist Rabinarayan Rath attended the ceremony as chief speaker and paid homage to the great soul and described him as a legendary artist of Odisha’s soil. He added that in 1911, Panda studied in College Of Arts, Kolkata and then worked in Rabindranath Tagore’s Santiniketan. He brought many reforms in Odia art and culture.
Prominent artist Tunendra Pattnaik graced the occasion as the invited guest to pay respect to the late soul and emphasised on nurturing the artists at state level. Born in 1884 in Bhagorai, Balasore, he studied arts from Kolkata and later joined as an art teacher in Puri Zilla School. President of Lalitkala Academy Manas Ranjan Jena said, “We are planning to file a request to the Ministry of Culture to set up a statue of the legendary artist.”
Among the other guests, artists Chuguli Sahoo, Laxmikanta Rana, Prabodh Sahoo, Subash Pujari, Panchanan Samal, Kantakishore Maharana, Pramod Nayak, Sikha Parida, Minaketan Pattnaik, Bikram Routroy, Dibya Ranjan Swain, Sunil Dakua, Subhamaya Biswal, Dillip Mishra and Gyana Ranjan Paneda attended the ceremony.
