Students of Chinmaya Vidyalaya take part in a dance competition in Bokaro on Friday. Picture by Pankaj Singh

Ranchi, July 22: Jharkhand’s indigenous cultures and dance forms, often relegated to the wings, will get a national podium, courtesy Central University of Jharkhand (CUJ).

The CUJ, in association with Chennai-based National Folkfore Support Centre and Tata Education Trust, will host a three-day national seminar titled “Indigenous cultures and dances of Jharkhand” between August 25 and 27 at its Brambe campus.

The seminar will address three major concern areas — indigenous cultures of Jharkhand (ethnography, issues, artistic traditions), tribal dances and their relationship with Chhau, the state’s main dance form performed by tribals and non-tribals alike. “We’re trying to raise these issues and keep them alive. A publication will be brought out by National Folkfore Support Centre. The compilation of academic essays will be edited by M.D. Muthukumaraswamy, executive director of the Chennai-based NGO,” said Rabindranath Sarma, assistant professor with the CUJ’s Centre for Indigenous Culture Studies.

Jharkhand boasts colourful dance forms such as chhau, paika, pata, domkoch, dasai, feerkal, nachni, karma baha (performed during Sarhul), maghe, among others. But the hitch lies in lukewarm promotion, which is why Amitava Ghosh, the secretary of Kala Mandir, a Jamshedpur-based NGO working to preserve the state’s cultural heritage, hailed the CUJ’s initiative.

So far, Sarma said they had received 15 papers. But though the response to the meet is satisfactory, there are few takers for the five-year integrated courses in indigenous culture at the CUJ. Against 40 seats, eight students took admission in 2011. Authorities are taking comfort from the fact that last year, it was a paltry four.