(Top) Artistes perform mohiniyattam and a Malayalee folk dance at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph pictures

Bhubaneswar, March 28: The rich cultural heritage of Kerala was showcased in a two-hour programme Sarga Keralam, organised by the All India Malayalee Association at Rabindra Mandap.

The evening had in store poetry, patriotic songs, folk songs, classical dance, theatre, choreography and literature, highlighting the literary and artistic traditions of Kerala.

After the lighting of the lamp and a small invocatory song, artistes of Matha Perambra mesmerised the audience with their representations depicting the transformation brought about within the Kerala community through centuries.

The evening began with Kerala’s classical dance form mohiniyattam. The artistes presented their devotional dance item. The soft expressions and dainty steps of mohiniyattam with the Carnatic music as accompaniment gave the evening a delightful start.

After the recital, a folk dance with a lively music kept the audience in rapt attention. A colourful dance item depicting the romance of Radha and Krishna was next in queue. The evening came to an end with a folklore-based dance drama.

“The association is present in almost all the states and today we have inaugurated its Odisha unit. This will help our unit achieve a national platform. We have decided to celebrate this occasion with a host of performances that will reflect the traditions of Kerala,” said K.V. Ramachandran, vice-president of the association.

Along with the cultural events, guest of the evening Gokulam Gopalan discussed about various problems faced by Malayalee communities throughout the country and deliberated on the effective solutions.

“Since the association is a bigger and better platform, we now have the privilege to cater our assistance to all the Malayalees residing in every corner of the state. This will help us create and develop an even better relationship with our other community friends,” said Gopalan.

“It is not very often that we get to see mohiniyattam live on stage. We mostly concentrate on Odissi and kathak. The traditional white Malayalee kasavu sari with golden borders and its unique ornamentation looked lovely. I think we should have mohiniyattam performances more often in the city,” said Arati Behera, a viewer.