The Bateghate-2, a mega cultural extravaganza organised by the Press Club of Sambalpur, ended on Saturday night. This is for the second time that the cultural programme was organized where artists from all over the State took part with stroke of folk dance and fold music, besides all other traditional dances.
The summer evening, in spite of sweating experience, turned to be an attractive time for all those who were present in the ring road near the Maa Samaleswari temple.
The programme began with ‘Mahanadi Alati’ at the Samaleswari Ghat that is first of its kind in the State to worship the river -the lifeline of Odisha. Then the cultural programmes began in different open air pendals on the ring road.
At the outset, Mahanadi Coalfield limited (MCl) CMD AK Jha highly appreciated the efforts of the members of the Press Club for such a programme. In his speech he reiterated his commitment to make Sambalpur a developed city at par with all other cities of the country. The MCl sponsored of the programme.
The organisers felicitated different persons for their remarkable achievements in their own fields. Cricketer Roshnara Parwin, bankers Archita Behera and Sandhya Sharma, woman OAS officer Samikshya Nayak, woman tablist Deepali Mishra, singer Padmini Dora and postal employee Anjali Pradhan were felicitated by Nisha Thakur, the president of the Jagruti Mahila Mandal of MCl.
Finally, cultural troupes from different parts of the State kept the audience spell-bound till the late night. President of the Press Club Deepak Panda, secretary Rajaram Sarangi, besides all other members, played a key role in making the programme successful. Different competitions including drawing, painting, Rangoli and photography were also organised.