Artistes perform at Taranga. Telegraph picture

Angul, Dec. 28: The three-day Angul zilla mahostav called “Taranga” is under way in a grandeur manner at stadium here with 48 cultural troupes participating in the event.

This is the second year the district is observing its annual mahostav in a big way. It organised its first mahostav in November 2009, since it was formed in 1992.

Inaugurating the event with host of leaders Rajya Sabha MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra lauded Angul district as a rich in culture and glorious past with hidden natural reserve. He also favoured the mahostav as this occasion provides opportunities for people to mix together.

Almost 40 troupes drawn from the state and outside performed on the first day of mahostav. Bihu of Assam, Odissi dance by a local troupe and Mahari dance of Puri were some of the main attractions in the event.

Bihu dance of Assam had cast a note of glee on the huge audience who came out in large number to the stadium. “For the first time I saw the dance and it was really superb. Not only this dance I also enjoyed Odissi and other performances in the mahostav place,” said Rita Pradhan an audience.Another audience from Angul town Trinath Rout shared similar feelings to see variety of dances He said that he enjoyed group dances like “Rangabati” and “Ghunura” to the utmost.

Besides cultural troupes who entertain the people, there are as many as 120 stalls coming from all the districts of the state. Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhad are participating in the zilla mahostav by opening stalls on their handicrafts and rural products .

“Self help groups of all the districts in the state are participating by opening their stalls in the ground,” said the district public relation officer S.C. Sethi. He said the district is also representing in opening stalls by all the government departments. The stalls attract huge crowd in day and evening time mostly, he claimed. He hoped that this year the sale will be higher than the last year when not many people were aware of the vent being held for the first time.

Other attractions of the Taranga are yoga camp in the morning by the Ramdev baba group, seminar on labour and tourism, blood donation camp and sand art exhibition of Sudarshan Pattanaik.