11th Kalinga Literary Festival 2025 kicked off in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: The 11th edition of iconic Kalinga Literary Festival started in Bhubaneswar today. Literary minds from across South East Asia and World representing some 25 languages are participating in the annual festival of art, culture and literature.

Dr Hari Babu Kambhampati, Governor of Odisha inagurated the festival by lighting the lamp along with Indonesian Ambassador to India Ms K Ina H Krishnamurthi and Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

Kalinga Literary Festival CEO and Patron Ashok Kumar Bal placed the welcome address while Festival Founder Director Rashmi Ranjan Parida presented the itenary for the next three days and a brief background of the literary history of Odisha.

He also briefed about the contributions made by Kalinga Literary Festival in bringing creative minds from across the South East Asian nations to celebrate the rich cultural, artistic and litery legacy of the State and the Country.

Thought leaders, writers and visionaries from across the globe are participating in these three days’ engaging sessions to discuss about literature, culture, art tradition, history and politics.

While delivering his address Governor Kambhampati highlighted that Odisha has profound Literary and intellectual legacy deeply intricated in its history and artistic foot prints.

He said that the State has produced finest literary minds in the Country and the festivals like these would celebrate such legacy as the State had immensly contributed to literary heritage of India.

“India has never been sectarian and narrow minded in the question of language, never been intolent, had always promoted intellectual freedom and cutural diversity”.

Kambhampati asserted that in today’s world of technology and Artifical Intelligence, literary festival like this will create space for literary legacy and intellectual frredom, human imagination and wriiten words.

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister Culture and Tourism said, We have forgotten the sacrifices of our fore fathers. During the last 10 years significant change happened in the country. The country is fast transforming. The people who have potentiality in igniting minds and creating consciousness, they have a great responsibility in contributing transformation of the country, they are writers.

As on today, Sanatan tradition and culture is under threat by external forces, creative minds can stop these.

Odisha has produced some finest literary minds from Fakir Mohan Senapati to Prativa Ray, he said.

Ms Ina H Krishnamurthi, Indonesian Ambassador to India said Indonesian is truly honoured to be the partner of the festival as we share 75th year of Country partnership.

Indonesian has history of friendship of millennial with India. We share old and millenial friendship with Odisha as ancient Kalinga had rich business link with Indonesia. Than Kalinga King had sent sent 20,000 Odia people to Java, Sumatra, Bali, etc.

This year’s central theme of the KLF is “Literature and the world: Inclusion, identity and belonging,”

The annual literary event is being held in three different venues of the city Mayfair Lagoon, Guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra Odishi Research Centre and Utkal Mandap.

This year’s Kalinga Literary Award bestowed on to legendary Hindi Writer Mamata Kalia, acclaimed translator and academic Po rof Jatindra Kumar Nayak, Kalinga International Literary Award given to Sanskrit Scholar Dr Srinuruddhs Dash and Dr Mamata Mishra and the Kalinga Literay Award(Youth) was given to popular Nepali writer Budhhisagar.

Prominent among others who were present at the inaugural ceremony were Kendra Sahitya Akademy Secretary K Sreenivas Rao and Padma Bhushan Sudarshan Sahoo.