State Government officials are busy for the smooth take off of 22nd Asian Athletics Championships (AAC) at the Kalinga Stadium here and to showcase Odisha’s rich art and culture during the mega sporting event. Internationally-acclaimed sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik would showcase Odisha’s culture through his art during the event scheduled to be inaugurated on July 5.
Sudarsan would carve out sand sculptures at the Kalinga Stadium premises. He would also create sculptures of the famous athletes in the world. Around nine tonnes of sand would be used to create all these sculptures.
Meanwhile, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has expedited the city beautification drive for the sporting event by repairing streetlights, cleaning of roads and painting the walls of flyovers and other places with traditional themes.Official sources said striking classical dance, martial arts featuring folk tales on the Kalinga War and history of the world-famous Konark Temple would be showcased during the opening ceremony of the event on July 5.
As many as 400 Odia dancers under the choreography of noted Odishi exponent Aruna Mohanty would perform classical dances and local martial arts for about 15 minutes and narrate the famous history of the Konark Sun Temple and tales on the fierce Kalinga War that took place nearly 2,000 years ago in ancient Odisha, they added.
Meanwhile, Asian teams have started arriving in Bhubaneswar.