Bhubaneswar, Feb. 21: For some traditional art forms of the state, Mumbai's Infosys Foundation has come as a breath of fresh air. The foundation has come the rescue of art forms that are on the verge of extinction.

Manmath Kumar Satpathy, a former secretary of the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi and also present associate director of the outreach cultural programme in the state appointed by the Infosys Foundation, disclosed this yesterday.

"We propose to revive 24 folk art forms in Odisha including dance, theatre and folk instruments of which most are in the dying stage. These include Prahallad natak, Lanka podi yatra, Moghul tamsha, raasaleela, ghudki, kothisala, Bharat leela, puppet dance, danda nata of Kalahandi, and sahi jata of Puri. Down the years, many have become an ailing art and the younger generation might not have even heard of them," said Satpathy.

"We plan to hold performances of these dying art forms a regular affair by popularising them and training new generations. These art forms are gradually dying because of the lack of proper patronisation. The idea is to provide a platform to many artistes and establish these art forms in the international arena," he said.

Satpathy completed a research project on the dying art forms of Odisha under the fellowship of the central government's department of culture in 2007. Thanks to his initiative, the famous 182-year-old wooden mask dance of Bisipada in Kandhamal district that depicts Lanka Podi yatra, was staged twice at Rabindra Bhavan in New Delhi by the Centre's department of culture in May and June last year. "The wooden mask dance of Bisipada is now considered one of the rarest art forms in India," Satpathy said.

The foundation will organise a seven-day workshop on Prahallad natak at Sindhipalli and digapahandi, in Ganjam district shortly. This is the native place of Simanchal Patra, who was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1992. "We will train some interested newcomers on Prahallad natak there," Satpathy added.

Asked about financial support to this project, Satpathy said the Infosys Foundation had created a corpus fund of Rs 85 lakh for the purpose and the interest generated from this fund (amounting Rs 50,000 per month) is being disbursed through the Bharatiya Bidya Bhavan, Bhubaneswar branch.