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Odia Poet Ashutosh Parida Selected for the 47th Sarala Puraskar

25 August 2026National

Odia poet and former scientist Ashutosh Parida was selected for the 47th Sarala Puraskar for his 2024 poetry collection 'Bishwas De Pruthwi', to be presented at Bhubaneswar on 25 October 2026. Instituted in 1980 and awarded by the Indian Metals Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT) - the social wing of Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Ltd (IMFA) - the Sarala Puraskar is Odisha's premier annual literary honour and carries a cash prize of Rs 7 lakh, a citation and a copper plaque. The 2026 Ila-Bansidhar Panda Kala Samman went to Odissi maestro Guru Durga Charan Ranbir and sculptor Damodar Behera, each receiving Rs 2.5 lakh.

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The Sarala Puraskar is named after Sarala Das, the 15th-century Odia poet who wrote the Odia Mahabharata | Odisha's capital is Bhubaneswar; Odia was declared a Classical Language of India in 2014 | The Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary honour, was instituted in 1961

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