The age -old martial art and other rural sports which were almost a traditional hallmark of Raja, Dussehra, Kali Puja, Ratha Jatra and other festivals, seem to be dying a slow death in Jajpur district and its nearby areas, thanks to the ever- increasing reach and popularity of cable television and cinema.
However, in Khandtiri, Balichandrapur, Chatia, Nalipur and other villages, these shows were revived during the three-day Raja festival, where the villagers exhibited their traditional martial skill and sport talent.
Many villagers used to practise wrestling, sword fighting, Bagudi, horse dance and Kabadi in earlier times. But presently, the shows are rarely held as the younger generation lacks its rudimentary knowledge and is lured away by the television, preferring to watch sports rather than take part in these events. This is the reason the village committee members of Bagada have been organising ancient sports, including martial art competitions to revive the art forms. The three-day long martial sports attracted thousands of people on the occasion of Raja festival.
“Raja festival is also called as monsoon festival as the farmers start cultivation after it. Each year, monsoon generally reaches Odisha in the first week of June. But the delay of the arrival of monsoon this year somewhat dampened the spirit of Raja. Still the villagers celebrated it by organising several rural sports,” said Dr Manzoor Alli, a villager of Sukinda.
According to Pitambar Nayak of Balichandrapur, “We organized competitions for Kabadi, Bagudi, wrestling, sword-fighting and other traditional martial arts to encourage youth participation in the three-day-long Raja festival.” Around 70 youths of seven blocks of the district participated in Kabadi, Bagudi, sword-fighting and other rural sports and the events drew thousands of spectators.
The craze of cricket for the youths is the main reason behind the untimely death of many rural sports in the State, lamented social worker of Muralipur Prabhuranjan Satpathy. According to renowned historian Dr Basudev Das, many interesting legends surround the origin of the arts here. To defend Hindu religion during the Mogul rule, many persons learnt martial arts to fight the Muslim invaders.
These martial art practices percolated down the generations through family patronage. Their popularity is on the wane, but the efforts of village committee of Bagada and Itipur, who are trying for their revival, would surly bring them back to the scene.
It is high time these unique art forms were patronised by the Government. But the district administration has been paying only lip service towards the age old art forms, said Malaya Mallick, a sword-fighter of Balichandrapur.