Artistes from Narendrapur perform jodi sankha at the Berhampur Mahotsav. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, Jan. 13: The seven-day Berhampur Mahostav organised by Mahan Sangha to promote the art, culture and handicrafts of Ganjam district and spot young talents got off to a flying start on the Khallikote College Stadium here on Saturday.

Odissi dance by the artistes of Nrutyadhara — the 10-year-old institute at Khandagiri in Bhubaneswar — and the jodi sankha artistes from Narendrapur stole the show on the inaugural day.

Jodi sankha or double conch is a presentation of rural. While blowing the conch the artists display various physical movements.

The artistes of Nrutyadhara, led by its mentor Subhashree Patnaik, performed Dasa Mahabidya or 10 facets of Goddess Parvati and Dasabatara. Subhashree, the lead dancer, got ample support from Swagatika Nayak, Rajashree Patnaik, Nibedita Das, Jyotirmoyi Barik and Manasi Behera. She said the future of Odissi was bright.

“We must appreciate that foreigners are interested in learning Odissi and this trend has been on the rise for sometime now,” Subhashree said.

Fifteen artistes of Narendrapur led by Sarat Chandra Mahapatra performed jodi sankha. “We performed padmasana, chakrasana, chaiti ghoda, nrusinghasana, barahasana while blowing the conch,” said Sarat, a priest at a local Shiv temple and a disciple of the late Padmashree Bhagaban Sahu.

The artistes include 13-year-old Sanjit Behera who studies in Class VIII in Narendrapur High School. Sanjit is learning jodi sankha for the past seven months.

“We would perform jodi sankha at Kalahandi Mahotsav on January 14, Bargarh Dhanuyatra on January 17, Mumbai on January 29 and Ahmedabad on February 2,” said Sarat, who has performed jodi sankha in Paris, Dubai, Bagdad and Moscow.

“We have opened 120 kiosks and hope that the mahostav entertains the people of Berhampur,” said Susant Sabat, president Mahan Sangha.