Steps to revive dying art forms of Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: In an attempt to revive death art forms Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in affiliation with Infosys Foundation has revived more than 50 folk art forms of Odisha in the ultimate two years and has deliberate to restore 33 folk art forms at the verge of demise in the 12 months 2018-19. The institute could also be making plans to arrange a research wing to facilitate research, preservation and documentation of death art forms of Odisha.

“Many folks outdoor Odisha and even in Odisha don’t know in regards to the rich tradition of people art forms exist in the state. Due to lack of promotion and make stronger those conventional forms have slowly been vanishing. Two years ago we made an attempt to revive them through undertaking common performances in the city and likewise through common interventions,” stated famous tradition researcher and previous secretary of Odisha Sangeet Natak Academy, Manmath Satpathy who has been spearheading the outreach programme.

Some of the original folk art forms revived in the course of the programme include Prahallad natak, Lanka podi yatra, Moghul tamsha, raasaleela, ghudki, kothisala, Bharat leela, puppet presentations, parava nata, danda nata and Badi khela Ganjam, sahi jata of Puri, pala, daskathia and many others.

“Due to our efforts the 183 years-old Lanka Podi yatra – a masked folk dance shape where artists use massive mask weighing 90 kg has been effectively revived. The art shape has been recognised as one of the historical and unique art form of India,” Satpathy pointed out.

“It has been a Herculean task to restore those art forms, most of which can be at the brinks and ill. However, the programme has infused new rent of existence a number of the artists and they're now assured of making their presence felt through programmes around the state and likewise outdoor,” stated chairman of the institute’s city centre, Major General (retd) B Ok Mahapatra.

The centre has been making plans to arrange a research wing on Odisha’s rich cultural heritage and folk art forms with the assistance of more than a few individual and institutional collections on it and the materials together with pictures, outdated documents, articles published, paper clippings and CDs amassed throughout the programme. “The research wing won't most effective facilitate element studies and preservation of the folks art forms but additionally record them for the long run generations,” stated Satpathy.