Jharkhand’s Tribal Languages Shine at Bhubaneswar Literary Festival

Ranchi: Tribal poets from Jharkhand received notable attention at a major literary festival in Bhubaneswar, where they presented their works before an audience of writers and scholars. The event brought together over two hundred poets and authors representing twenty-two languages.

The festival was curated by multilingual poet and translator Dr. Sanghamitra Rayguru. Distinguished attendees included Odisha Assembly Speaker Surma Padhi, Sahitya Akademi secretary K. Srinivas Rao, renowned linguist Padma Shri Devi Prasanna Pattnaik and critic Praful Mahanti.

Held from November 15 to 17, the Parichay Literary Festival provided a national platform for Jharkhand’s tribal voices. Poets Netlal Yadav (Khortha), Mahadev Dungariyar (Kurmali) and Premchand Oraon (Kurukh) participated. Translator Devidatta Sarangi read works in English, while poet Mukund Ravidas presented in Hindi. Several translated publications were released as contributors from diverse linguistic traditions shared their creations.

The festival, organised under the guidance of Dr. Rosalin Pattasani Mishra and Priyadarshi Mishra, once again highlighted the richness of Indian literature and its enduring cultural threads.