Children participate in a painting competition at Bhanja Kala Mandap in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, May 22: The 13th Sishu Mahotsav, a state-level summer talent hunt aimed at discovering the hidden talent of children and to nurture their abilities, was held at the Bhanja Kala Mandap here today.

More than 150 children, in the age group of four to 15, took part in a string of activities at the annual festival. Apart from a large number of schoolchildren from Bhubaneswar, several others from Cuttack and Puri also participated in the event. The children had been divided into three groups – kindergarten, junior (classes I to V) and senior (classes VI to X).

Starting from creative activities such as, painting, dance (both modern and Odissi classical), song and recitation to the more literary ones like debate, essay and quiz, the participants showcased their talents on this platform.

“I always look forward to such activities and competition during the summer vacation. I took part in debate and quiz and got an opportunity to learn from the other contestants,” said Ananya Das, a class V student of Loyola English Medium School here.

Due to an overwhelming response, the competition which began at 10am continued till late evening.

“There were nearly 40 participants for modern dance, while only 10 had enrolled for the Odissi classical dance competition. From next year onwards, we are planning to encourage more children to take part in Odissi dance category,” said one of the members of the Sishu Mahotsav Committee, the organising group. Secretary of the committee Renuka Mishra said they were now planning to set up a children’s library and toy museum. “Although several activities are conducted during summer vacation, there is a great need to set up a formal children’s library and a toy museum.

“We are planning to get a large collection of books and toys from different parts of the world so that children can engage themselves during this long summer break,” said Mishra.

“There were two to three experts to judge the participants in each event and the winners were awarded in the evening.