Artistes take part in the cultural procession in Sambalpur. Telegraph picture

Sambalpur, Jan. 4: Hundreds of artistes from across Odisha and other states congregated here to showcase their art and skill in the Sambalpur Lok Mahotsav, which began today.

A cultural procession was organised this morning to announce the opening of the festival. The procession began from the Samaleswari temple in the city. The artistes took part in the procession and moved round the city in their traditional attire before reaching to Gangadhar Mandap, where the folk festival has been organised.

“Several forms of arts and dance are on the verge of extinction now. Sambalpur Lok Mahotsav is an effort to give new lease of life to those forms of art and dances. For the past 16 years, the mahotsav has been providing a platform to the folk artistes of the state,” said Santosh Dash, co-ordinator of the festival.

Every year, the festival is held on January 4. Around 600 national and local artistes of 30 cultural groups will take part in the festival. To encourage the local artistes, nine cultural teams from nine blocks of the district and seven cultural teams from Sambalpur have been included in the mahotsav.

Traditional folk dance forms such as Sanchar, Bajnia, Gotipua, Jhumer, Samparda, Dalkhai, Boul from Bengal, Bhangda from Punjab, Dhap Gudka, Purulia Chhau, Ghumar, Bardoi from Madhya Pradesh, Chutkuchuta, Female Pala will be performed during the three-day festival, which will conclude on January 6. The estimated budget for the festival is around Rs 14 lakh.