Bhubaneswar, July 28: Eminent writer Dr. Ramachandra Behera on Wednesday received Atibadi Jagannath Award, the highest literature award conferred by Odisha Sahitya Akademy.

Culture Minister Jyotiprakash Panigrahi conferred the award on Behera along with a cash prize of 5 lakh. Apart from it, as many as 15 literary persons were conferred with citations and cash prizes.

The awardees are Raseswari Mishra, Debendra Kumar Das,Girija Shankar Sharma,Ashok Kumar Patnaik,Babaji Charan Patnaik,Baidhar Sahu,Jiban Krushna Mohapatra,Digraj Brahma,Soubhagini Mishra,Swarajyalaxmi Mishra,Krupasindhu Nayak, Nirmalprava Nayak,Radha Binod Nayak,Maheswar Mulia and Rudra Narayan Prusty.