Cyclone Jawad: Konark festival, sand art event cancelled as tourism comes to standstill in Odisha

In the wake of impending cyclonic storm ‘Jawad’, the Odisha government has cancelled an ongoing classical dance festival and a sand art event in Puri as per the latest statement issued by the state tourism department, PTI reported.

The Konark Festival which was going on at the Sun Temple, and the International Sand Art Festival on the Chandrabhaga Beach were suddenly cancelled by the tourism department in view of the looming threat. Both the events had begun on Wednesday and were scheduled to be conducted till Sunday but were cut short due to the Jawad cyclone.

It is pertinent to note that the Konark Festival has been organised every year since the festival was organised for the first time in 1986. The event which faces the 13th century Konark temple is held at an open-air auditorium. This is the first time that the grand event has been cancelled since its inception in 1986.

The event witnesses leading dancers and art enthusiasts who practice different Indian classical dance forms including Odissi, Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Kathakali, Sattriya and Kathak.

As per the PTI report, an international sand art event which was scheduled to be held a few kilometres away from the Konark temple also got cancelled due to the impending cyclone. The sand art event was supposed to witness a congregation of more than 100 artisans from different states such as Odisha, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.

In another related development, the Similipal Tiger Reserve, which is one of the biggest tourist attractions of the state, also suspended tourist activities at the Tiger reserve site for two days. The Tiger Reserve authorities put out a notice on social media requesting tourists to cancel their plans for the next two days.