When religion meets arts and modernity meets tradition, it makes a different taste.The Odisha lok Mahotsav, organised by the Bharat lila loka Nurtya Parishad, is a glaring example. It was held at the nondescript Solandi village near Buguda, about 70 km from here. The Mahotsav aims at sharing knowledge and culture and encouraging the practice, preservation and maintenance of traditional folkdance, song and art, said the organiser.
About 31 groups of Bharat lila from Ganjam, Gajapati, Cuttack, Khurda and Nayagada performed on the occasion. Earlier, a colorful procession was taken out in Solandi-Buguda which, among others, was attended by poet Dandapani Mohapatra, local MlA Niranjan Pradhan, former deputy speaker and national vice president of BJP Krushak Morcha Rama Chandra Panda, District cultural officer KC Nisank and BJP leader N Rajendra Kumar.
Addressing the gathering, Panda said that due to lack of appropriate and effective Government patronage, the traditional art and culture (like Prahalad Nataka, Palla, Daskathia, Chau Nrutya, Ramalilla, Bharat lila etc) is gradually disappearing in the rural areas adding to the problem of unemployment. The traditional art and cultural troupes were not meant for entertainment only, but are the most viable instruments and means of social reforms helping to eradicate myriad evils from the society and in improving social cohesiveness, he added.
Eminent artists, Pramod Kumar Das, Ganapati Mohapatra, Bhagaban Swain, Babu Gouda, Abhimanyu Gouda, Dibakar Gouda, Syamaghana Pradhan, Sisir Satapathy, Surendranath Das, and Dukhisyam Panigrahi were honoured with mementos and citations.