Bhubaneswar: When Odissi Guru Gangadhar Pradhan died in 2010, his son Sibashis Pradhan inherited the responsibility of running Konark Natya Mandap. He inherited his father’s dream of creating a platform for Indian classical dance, music and Odisha’s traditional performing arts.One of his first major tests came just months after his father’s death, when he organised the 24th Konark Dance and Music Festival. Despite the loss and the challenges that came with it, the five-day festival went ahead, ensuring that an annual tradition started by his father did not come to an end with him. Guru Gangadhar Pradhan had established Konark Natya Mandap in 1986 and launched the Konark Dance and Music Festival the same year.The festival has honoured eminent artistes, including sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain, flute maestro Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, and veteran actor and Bharatanatyam exponent Vyjayanthimala Bali, with the Guru Gangadhar Pradhan Lifetime Achievement Award. Sibashis has continued the institution’s annual Jhulan Utsav, which brings together artistes from different parts of the country for classical dance, devotional music and other cultural presentations.Nearly four decades later, the institution continues to bring artistes from across the country to its stage. “Since then, we have continued to organise the festival, bringing together artistes representing different classical forms, including Odissi, Kathak, Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi and Mohiniyattam, besides folk and traditional forms and music,” Sibashis said.