About 100 Jatra artists, playwrights, music composers, and lyricists under the banner of Antaranga Kalakara on Wednesday congregated here to celebrate the 11th Annual function of Antaranga Kalakar aiming to strengthen their unity and getting their various problems sorted out.
Music director Bikash Das, artist Kuna Tripathy, Kendriya Sahitya Academy Awardee Das Benhur and local MlA of Kendrapara Kishore Chandra Tarei were the guests.
The association lamented that neither Jatra, an old art form, is yet to get the status of literature by the State Culture department, nor its artists
get recognition.
According to eminent theatre personality and popular Jatra playwright Ananta Charan Ojha, “Jatra, once an integral part of the thriving cultural life of the coastal districts, is now at the crossroads while the livelihood of over 40,000 families is at a stake. The ongoing round- the- clock TV soaps has veritably dealt a death blow to Jatra.” He called upon everybody for due support to the art.
Actor Tripathy said Jatra is yet to get status of an organized sector in the State. Most of the artisans are suffering from various diseases and later die in wilderness. So there is a need to constitute a corpus fund for the betterment of Jatra artisans, he said and demanded group pension and insurance for all those dependent on Jatra.
Benhur described Jatra as having an important role in strengthening Odia language and literature, while MlA Tarei assured to bring the problems of the Jatra artisans before the Chief Minister.
Kailash Chandra Das (Jatra researcher), Nakuli Patra(director), Chaityana Swain(music director), Purusottam Palei(actor), Ananta Barik(actor) and Bansidhar Dutta(actor) were felicitated on the occasion.