Sangeet Natak Akademi, in collaboration with Orissa Sangeet Natak Akademi, Bhubaneswar organized Orissa Putul Kala Mahotsav (festival of Puppetry traditions of Orissa) from 8-11 September 2008 at Jayadev Bhavan and at Mini Auditorium of Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalay, Bhubaneswar. The festival was inaugurated by Shri Suryanaranyan Patra, Minister, Energy, IT & Culture, Orissa. It featured performance of Rod puppet, String puppet, Glove puppet and Shadow puppet of Orissa on different themes. Interaction sessions with puppeteers were also held from 9-11 September 2008 with experts such as Smt. Usha Malik, Shri Keshva Samy, Shri Puran Bhatt, Smt. Ranjana Pandey from outside Orissa and experts Shri D.N. Pattnaik, Shri Suresh Balabantaray, Dr. Pradeep Kum. Pattnaik, Dr. Durgamadhab Nanda, Dr. Santosh Ku. Satapthy. among others, from Orissa.