Various forms of folk dance being performed at the Sreekhetra Mahotsav in Puri. Picture by Sarat Patra

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 22: The culture department of the state has infused a new lease of life into the folk arts tradition of Puri.

The Sreekhetra Mahotsav, which was hosted by the district culture office, concluded on Friday evening. The festival gave stage to art forms that have been slowly losing prominence.

Most of the programmes of the five-day fest displayed the cultural heritage of Puri, including the various types of folk theatre or sahi jata, the open-air theatre depicting episodes from mythology, mostly the Ramayan and the Mahabharata.

Troupes — one from every bylane — took part in the festival and each performed an unique episode from the epic. The artistes wore masks to portray the characters of the epic they staged. They also danced and sang in the traditional street play style.

“In ancient times, each bylane had gyms or akhada where acrobatic skills and body building were practised so that the young and fit citizens could fight for their king during war time. Also, there were various song and dance forms, as well as histrionics, that the members of the akhada were trained in,” said Puri district culture officer Prafulla Samantaray. Popular animal dance form such as Bagha Nacha — both in Puri and Ganjam style — was performed this year.

Similarly, artistes performed the medha nrutya in which they dance solo dressed as mythical characters with different appearances and interesting colourful costumes.

“Events involving these performances were rare in the past few decades. But now with the Sreekhetra Mahotsav conducted annually, not only were these art forms revived, but the quality of performance has also gone much higher. Some of the most attractive dances are Parasuram Nrutya, Sahasra Arjun Nritya, Nagarjuna Nritya, Rabana Hanuman. Bodybuilding, balancing acts and pole gymnastic and stunts performed by local artistes are also extremely popular,” said Akshay Sahu, a local resident.

Artistes were glad they got a chance to perform in front of local residents and tourists.

“We had thought that these art forms would perish. But now the festival attracts viewers, both local residents and tourists. This is a laudable effort by the culture department,” said Krushna Chandra Panda of the Bali Sahi akhada.