Artistes from Ganjam villages perform traditional dance, music and rituals at Lalit Kala Akademi in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, March 27: Artistes from various villages in Ganjam attracted art lovers at Osakothi workshop, which concluded today at Rashtriya Lalit Kala Akademi here.

Dressed up in colourful attires and playing vibrant rhythms, the artistes created an ambience of the south Odisha villages, where the unique tradition of Osakothi flourishes.

Showcasing the scene of Durga Puja at the villages of Ganjam, the workshop highlighted the art and other traditions involved with the occasion. The first two days focused on painting on the walls of the makeshift Osakothi or hut-like structure set up on the akademi premises, resembling the venue where the festival takes place at the Ganjam villages.

On Tuesday evening, singers, musicians and dancers started their performance in the evening, recreating the festive scene of Osakothi. A yagna or holy fire was lit up to invoke Goddess Durga as well as members of the divine fraternity depicted in form of images on the Osakothi walls.

An artiste dressed up as Goddess Mangala held a pot of flowers and plants on his head and danced to the drumbeats, while the singers crooned the folk songs that had a mystical and tantric touch.

The ritual looked artistic in every aspect, be it the colourful costumes, the paintings and the set up for rituals of worship or the fascinating song and dance.

Yesterday, an artiste enacted Goddess Kali by smearing black on his face and wearing a black sari.

A procession went around the akademi premises, where various other artistes such as singers, drummers and string instrumentalists joined in the invocatory ritual.

“Here we could manage enacting only a few deities at a time. But, at the villages, there are at least 50 devotees dressed up in colourful attires playing various gods and goddesses, dancing to the tunes of the baida (drum) and dhana koila (a traditional string instrument),” said Santosh Kumar Padhi, leader of a troupe that performed yesterday. He has been playing the string instrument and singing on Durga Puja in Ganjam for over 40 years.

Today, the main idol of Goddess Durga was immersed as a valedictory ritual to the five-day workshop.

“Extremely colourful and breathtaking, this festival has not been explored by the outside world and still remains limited to the Ganjam villages. This is the first time that it has been recognised as an art form, and we wish to promote it further to the international level,” said Ramhari Jena, secretary of the akademi’s Bhubaneswar centre.

Twelve research scholar artists simultaneously painted their observations from the event and so did resource person for the workshop and famous artist and art historian Dinanath Pathy.