Bhadrak, 19 Janaury 2026: Odisha’s renowned Bhubaneswar-based publishing house Timepass will organise the third edition of its distinctive literary festival, Salandi Sahitya Sangam, in Bhadrak on February 14 and 15. The two-day festival will be held at Sangam Convention Centre on the Salandi Bypass, from 10 am to 7 pm each day.
Continuing its tradition, the festival will confer the Salandi Srujan Puraskar on eight senior literary figures, with the awards named after eminent sons of Bhadrak. In addition, five individuals actively contributing to the growth of literature will be honoured with the Sahitya Sakha Samman. The names of the awardees and honourees will be announced in the first week of February.
Sharing these details at a press conference held at Karmachari Bhavan in Nuabazar, festival director Saroj Bala said that the awards are not merely a form of felicitation but a sincere effort to connect the present generation with the legacy of literary stalwarts born on Bhadrak soil. He added that writers, editors, publishers, playwrights, actors, musicians and visual artists from across Odisha will participate in various sessions of the festival, helping showcase Bhadrak’s creative identity and spirit of fraternity across the state.
The organising committee for this year was also announced. As in previous editions, novelist Pavitra Panigrahi will serve as president, with poet Kishore Panigrahi and lyricist Panchanan Nayak as vice-presidents. Young writer and administrator Soumyashree Panigrahi will take charge as managing editor, while poet Chittaranjan Nayak will serve as creative coordinator. Amitabh Khilar, Kailash Behera, Sangram Keshari Senapati and Pritipadma Das will function as co-coordinators.
Senior journalist and poet Dr Harihar Nayak will be the media advisor, with Pramod Ray and Tapan Swain acting as media coordinators. Eminent personalities including Dr Radhabinod Nayak, Basudev Barik, Jharana Pattnaik, Dr Radharani Mohapatra, Dr Prabhat Nalini Mohapatra, Purnachandra Bahali and Dr Bikash Narayan Nanda will continue to provide guidance and advice for the successful conduct of the festival.
For the current year, district coordinators have been appointed as follows: Abinash Panda (Bhadrak), Utpal Mahanti (Balasore), Ashok Chandra Puhan (Kendujhar), Asima Sahu (Mayurbhanj), Pragya Prabartika Das (Jajpur) and Atul Bala (Kendrapara).
Like previous years, the festival will feature a wide range of creative programmes covering literature, music, cinema, dance and visual arts. The organisers have appealed to writers, artists and the public to participate enthusiastically and help make this unique celebration of creativity a grand success.
