Sambalpur, Nov. 1: Four BJD and one Congress councillor of Bargarh municipality today submitted their resignation from the civic body.

Their resignation came as an act of protest against the decision of the district administration to change the venue of the raj durbar (palace court) of 'King Kansa' for Dhanu yatra, considered the biggest open-air theatre in the world.

The stage of the raj durbar has been shifted from the traditional Hatpada to Nishamani Ground.

The Bargarh municipality has a total of 19 councillors.

The councillors who submitted their resignations are Bedamati Pradhan, Sashi Agrawal, Basudev Bagarti, Ajit Seth - all BJD councillors, along with Congress councillor Manoj Pradhan. All of them are from Hatpada. They submitted their resignation to the executive officer of the municipality.

The 11-day festival is due to begin on January 2 and conclude on January 12. A decision to relocate the venue from the raj durbar from Hatpada to Nishamani Ground was taken at the preparatory meeting of the festival on October 28. The decision was taken because of a severe space constraint at Hatpada.

"Every year, while the raj durbar of King Kansa is staged at Hatpada, Nishamani Ground houses the Ranga Mahal, where a host of cultural programmes are held. However, because of the growing crowd and space constraint, the raj durbar of King Kansa took place for only seven days at Hatpada last year. On the last four days, the raj durbar was held at Nishamani Ground. But the district administration has decided to run the raj durbar for the entire 11 days at Nishamani Ground this year. The councillors have resigned protesting against the decision," said Sureswar Satpathy, the secretary of the Dhanu yatra organising committee.

The executive officer of Bargarh municipality, Sushanta Rout, confirmed that the councillors had submitted their resignation letters. "The resignation will be sent to the council. The council will take the final decision in this regard," said Rout.

During the Dhanu yatra festival, the small western Odisha town of Bargarh is transformed into Mathura, the birthplace of Lord Krishna, and the Jeera river becomes the Yamuna. Amapali, which is located on the outskirts of Bargarh town, is transformed into Gopapura. The entire town sees a sea change and is transformed into a massive stage for 11 days. The rule of Kansa, his death and the exploits of Lord Krishna are enacted in 14 main places in Mathura and Gopapura during the annual festival.