Performers at Ajanta Circus, which is on at Exhibition Ground in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, May 14: With no lions and tigers to roar, its charm is certainly withering away gradually. Yet, the sheer mention of circus arouses curiosity.

The ongoing Ajanta circus in the city offers parents to take their little ones to experience one of the dying forms of entertainment of this epoch. The month-long circus that is cashing in on summer vacations of the children commenced on May 1 at Exhibition Ground.

A team of 70-odd artistes, including a group of special foreign performers, deliver three shows every day. Each show consists of around 30 diverse acts.

The artistes do impressive balancing acts and highflying stunts. They perform breathtaking acrobatics and juggling with equal ease. Some of the special performances include the traffic jam act, ring dance, boneless act and a number of acts involving horses and birds such as macaw and cockatoo. Three boys and one girl from Vietnam perform the famous Russian Bar Act.

Though all those associated with this sector of entertainment have many anecdotes to share, they all unanimously agree that circus charisma has gone missing. “Circus lost its audience, because we do not have animals such as tigers and lions any more. We used to play pranks with those well-trained beasts and the viewers would have a good laugh. I miss those golden days,” said the 68-year-old joker named Shah Jahan as he used to play the courageous dwarf fighting the big cats.

Circus manager Baikuntha Nath Patra believes that people do not have time to see a three-hour long show. “People rather prefer to enjoy this time either at home watching TV or doing weekly shopping. Though it is now a loss-making venture, circus is still running, because of the children, who force their parents to bring them here. They get so elated watching the jugglers’ stunts and also love the foolish acts of the jokers,” said Patra.

“We expect a minimum support from the government, but it never seems to come,” rued Kalyani, a gymnast at the circus.

Though there is scarce footfall at the 1pm to 4pm shows, city dwellers come for the 7pm shows in hordes. “While I was growing up, we used to look forward to a circus being organised near our house. What I saw here had nothing new for me, but my five-year-old son cannot stop talking about it,” said Archana, a schoolteacher.