Bhubaneswar, June 28: The culture department has scheduled a host of activities in Puri to celebrate Nabakalebar.

From musical concerts and poetry reading sessions to art camps and staging of plays, the essence of the festival will be evoked in through the cultural heritage of the state.

The Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi has organised a five-day festival in the holy town from July 20 to 24 at Annapurna Theatre. A cultural evening will be organised every day that would begin with a dance recital dedicated to the Trinity.

This would be followed by a musical performance that would be focused on devotional and folk songs from various rural areas of the state. The evening would end with a play that would portray various legends and rituals associated with the festival.

Local artistes and rural cultural groups would perform at the festival. "Apart from veteran artistes, young performers, too, are given a chance to showcase their skills at the event. Through the festival we would also try to ensure participation of the budding talents, who have won the Chief Minister's trophies this year," says akademi secretary Dhira Mallick.

The akademi will also release a music album featuring around 30 songs during the festival.

All the songs in the album would be bhajans sung by doyens of Odia music such as Balakrushna Das, Bhikari Bal, Sikandar Alam, Nimai Harichandan and others.

"A number of popular signers from the state have sung compositions dedicated to the Lord, and most of them are not accessible any more. We had formed a team that was given the responsibility of collecting the songs," said Mallick.

Also the Odisha Lalit Kala Akademi would conduct an art camp depicting various spiritual themes associated with the Nabakalebar rituals. Artists from various art colleges will showcase their spiritual, emotional as well as practical takes on the event of the resurrection of Lord Jagannath's idol, and several veteran artists from the state would be guiding them.

"The festival is quite unique, and the entire series of events conducted during the festival is like a narrative fresco, challenging the creative pursuits of the artists. The exhibition would be an opportunity for the artists to depict their connection with the Lord on their canvas and a visual treat for the viewers," said secretary of Lalit Kala Akademi Tarakanta Parida. Earlier, an art exhibition was also conducted by it on the similar lines.

The Odisha Sahitya Akademi is also planning to conduct poetry reading session and a literary meet based on the ancient concept of the transformation of the deities.