Artistes take part in the youth festival at Patna on Sunday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Dec. 26: A world-class auditorium for the city is on the anvil.

Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi today, while inaugurating a three-day state-level youth festival at the open theatre of Bhartiya Nrityakala Mandir, announced building of a state-of-the-art auditorium in Patna. The auditorium will have a capacity of 5,000 people.

The state-level festival is being organised by art, culture and youth affairs department of Bihar. Participants from 25 districts took part in 13 different categories including folk music and dance.

Speaking on the occasion, Modi laid emphasis on building more theatres and auditoriums in the city to achieve greater heights in the field of art and culture.

“Our government has taken all other sections very seriously but in the field of art and culture, we have failed to give satisfactory response. Bihar has tremendous calibre in this field but there are lack of amenities like good auditoriums and theatres to host plays and dramas. In the past five years, there has been a huge downfall in providing place to host cultural programmes,” Modi said.

He added: “You talk about Bhartiya Nrityakala Mandir, Kalidas Rangalaya, Vidyapati Bhavan and Premchand Rangshala, they are all in a bad shape. There is an urgent need to renovate and repair them. We have sanction money of Rs 1.5 crore to renovate Ravindra Bhavan. The facelift work has nearly come to an end and I am sure that it will be ready in three months.”

Speaking about the auditorium, Modi said: “At present, only SK Memorial Hall is in a good shape with a capacity of 2,200 people. However, in the next few years we will have the world-class auditorium with all state-of-the-art facilities. It will come up at the old Bankipore bus stand. The auditorium will cover the area between Magadh Mahila College and Gandhi Museum. The state government is working on the auditorium.”

Also present at the occasion, art, culture and youth affairs minister Sukhda Pandey promised to fulfil the requirements for the auditorium. She said the department is doing its best to encourage youths to take part in such programmes to promote cultural activities in the state.

“We need great support from the youth for the bright future of Bihar. Such kinds of programmes are a platform to showcase hidden talents,” she said.

Talking about festival, secretary of art, culture and youth affairs ministry K.P. Ramaiah, said: “All these participants who have been chosen from 25 districts will perform at three different locations in Patna.

The best performer of the State Youth Festival will be sent to take part in the National Youth Festival, which will be held in Udaipur, Rajasthan from January 12 to 16, 2011.”