By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR/CUTTACK: On Sunday, for the second consecutive year, the High Court of Orissa released the Judicial Calendar featuring paintings of school children in Justice Gati Krushna Mishra Auditorium of the Odisha Judicial Academy.
On 12th November, 2022 painting competitions were held among the school children of Class-VII to X across the State on the theme “Nature and Wildlife” by the District Courts under aegis of the High Court of Orissa. 1477 children participated in the competitions and 3 paintings were selected each district.
The 90 paintings adjudged 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the districts were brought to Cuttack and out of them 12 paintings were selected by the Committee of Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo, Justice Savitri Ratho, Justice V. Narasingh and Justice Gourishankar Satapathy.
The 12 paintings were of Sibasish Das of Kendrapada, Subha Ommkar Rath of Kalahandi, Ashirbad Das of Angul, Sai Arpita Mohapatra of Jajpur, Anindita Das of Nuapada, Shruti priyadarshini of Balasore, Om Prasad Swain of Dhenkanal, Rinku Sisa of Malkangiri, Manasmita Behera of Bhadrak, Aju Sabar of Gajapati, Sonali Lemka of Angul and Priyanshi Pattanaik of Bargarh. Those paintings have found place in the Judicial Calendar, 2023.
In the function in Odisha Judicial Academy the calendar was released by Dr. Justice S. Muralidhar, Chief Justice in the presence of the Judges of High Court of Orissa. Eminent artist Shri Prafulla Mohanti, noted Odissi exponent and academician Dr. Priyambada Mohanty Hejmadi and acclaimed sculptor Shri Rabi Rath were the special guests. Former Judges of the High Court, Deputy Solicitor General of India for Odisha, office bearers of High Court Bar Association and government officials also attended the event. Among others, noted sculptor Padma Vibhusan Sudarshan Sahoo was present.
The 12 children artists were felicitated by the Chief Justice, Judges and guests with certificates of appreciation, medals and prizes. It was a proud moment for the children as well as their parents who were present in the function. Their paintings were displayed before the audience in large screens.
Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo, Chairman of the Judicial Calendar Committee of the High Court welcomed the guests. Delivering the welcome address Justice Sahoo highlighted the importance of literature, music and art in human life. He also stressed on the need for protection of nature and wildlife for human existence.
Shri Rabi Rath, who was a part of the selection process, said art is the expression of an artist’s thought and it cannot be judged. He lauded the High Court’s gesture of honouring artists and their work, and said an artist craves only for appreciation for his work which keeps him going. Shri Rath applauded the children’s work saying they have done their best in expressing their artistic skill through colours by space management on paper.
Priyambada Mohanty Hejmadi congratulated the High Court for taking up the work of identifying young talents from across the state and showcasing them. Referring to the art works found in ages old rock shelters, she said artistry has been with us from primitive ages and art is something present in our genes. Shri Prafulla Mohanti appreciated the art of each of the children and urged them to continue looking at the world as a child in whichever age they are.
Justice V. Narasingh mentioned about the initiatives undertaken by the High Court under the leadership of Dr S Muralidhar with special reference to the children’s visit which has been happening from last one year. He encouraged the children saying their art works have transformed the mundane date calendar into a visual delight. Justice Savitri Ratho stressed on the need of identifying the talent in children. Quoting a famous writer she said, while worrying about his future we should not forget what the child is today.
Delivering the key note address Dr. Justice S. Muralidhar, Chief Justice said, the speciality of Odisha has been the proliferation of art and culture and the way it has been preserved, and further said, versatility is found abundantly in Odisha. Mentioning about children, Justice Muralidhar said, their experience with the courts are often not good as they visit courts in difficult circumstances, either being torn asunder by rival affections of the parents fighting custody battles or as witnesses to or victims of crimes, and therefore, with the objective of telling them that the judiciary cares for them such initiatives are being undertaken by the High Court. He said, the endeavour has been to make things transparent and bring the institution closer to people.
Justice Gourishankar Satapathy proposed the vote of thanks.. This is for the second consecutive year that the High Court has published calendar displaying art works of children. In 2021, the theme of the paintings was “Family”, this year the theme has been “Nature & wildlife”.
