Bhubaneswar: Eminent playwright, director, writer, and Odia folk culture expert Manmath Kumar Satapathy has been nominated for the ‘Nabagunjar Samman’ for 2025. The management council of ‘Nabagunjar Sanskruthi Manch’, Bhubaneswar, has unanimously taken this decision in recognition of his successful and dedicated contribution to the field of Odia drama and folk art for over half a century.
Satapathy will receive the Nabagunjar Samman-2025 at the annual function of the Nabagunjar Manch in Bhubaneswar on October 5, recognising his dedication to preserving and promoting Odisha’s folk art.
Since his student life, Satapathy has had a special interest in drama composition, acting, and direction. He started a pioneering drama institution, ‘Tarun Kalakar Sanstha’, in his native Saraswat Kshetra Bhanjanagar, where he staged social dramas without female characters on a low budget.
Satapathy’s achievements include composing 35 stage plays, two radio plays, and writing stories and screenplays for four Odia films. He has enriched the world of Odia stage art by directing over 200 stage plays and folk plays. His stage play “Mun Chakara Kahuchi,” written and directed by him, has been widely appreciated in and outside the state after 20 years of research.
Some notable achievements of Satapathy include preserving tribal history by highlighting Chakra Bisoyi, the tribal revolutionary leader of Ghumusar, as one of Odisha’s oldest freedom fighters. He successfully restored the 300-year-old folk festival “Lankapodi Yatra” of Bishipada village in Kandhamal district and documented it. Satapathy has worked tirelessly to preserve and revive Odisha’s unique cultural heritage, especially endangered folk dances and arts.
In collaboration with Infosys Foundation and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Satapathy has been working on the revival, digital preservation, dissemination, and national presentation of endangered folk arts of Odisha. He plans to set up a modern museum and research centre for this purpose.
