The week-long Baisakhi event was a confluence of classical, folk, popular and tribal genres.
One of the artistes
The sprawling lawns of the Jayadev Bhawan cultural complex at Bhubaneswar, that was converted into an open-air theatre for a week, was the largest crowd puller for a unique cultural event - Baisakhi - hosted by Chinta-O-Chetana recently.
With troupes from 22 States and two from abroad apart from scores of artistes and troupes from Orissa, the 26th annual edition of Baisakhi coincided with the celebration of the Oriya New Year. It is the only festival of its kind in Orissa that showcases classical and the contemporary with the folk and the tribal cultural events. It also invites the veterans and the novice to the stage with equal enthusiasm. And this has been the reason of Baisakhi’s growing popularity over the years where there is something for all kinds of audience.
“We need not compartmentalise culture into classical, contemporary or popular while hosting a festival. The audience must watch all sorts of events to appreciate the colourful canvas of Indian culture. We must have equal respect for different kinds of arts traditions,” said Chinta-O-Chetana founder-secretary Surendra Das who has been relentlessly hosting this cultural extravaganza for the last 25 years.
Each evening’s cultural events kicked off with a procession scene of Lord Jagannath by the folk artistes replicating the ‘pahandi bije’ ritual of the Lord in Puri. Then followed glimpses of several styles of dance
and music that continued till midnight. The regions represented by their troupes included Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Karnataka, Jharkhand, West Bengal and all the north-eastern states besides Andaman and Nicobar islands.
While the cultural troupe from Germany mesmerised with their martial dances, Malayasian artistes gave glimpses of Odissi’s popularity beyond the boundary of its land of origin. Troupes from Orissa presented the highly acrobatic Gotipua dance, the unmasked martial dance of Mayurbhanj Chhau, Sambalpuri folkdance of western Orissa, Ghoda Nacha, Ranapa Nacha, puppetry and a large umber of tribal dances. Gifted singer Siba Rath, of the popular Geet Govind album, enthralled. So did veteran Odissi vocalist Bijay Jena, Hindustani vocalist Sangeeta Panda and talented singer Mahaprasad Kar. Presence of several eminent cultural personalities, added a distinct flavour to the festival.
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