Prince Dance Group steals the show ; Curtails down in Malyabanta

‘Dasha Avatar’ - the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu, a dance programme presented by the Prince Dance Group from Berhampur stole the show at the closing ceremony of the Malyabanta Mahostav-2011, which began here. It was based on the incarnation of Krishna, beginning with the preaching of Gita. The organizers of the three-day extravaganza was invited several cultural groups and teams to perform.

The Berhampur-based group led by team leader Krishna Mohan, which has carved a niche for itself in the entire world for its distinctive style of choreography, presented three performances including Vande Maataram. The 21-member team had been divided into three groups. Members of all the groups had been painted from head to toe with the tricolour. It looked as though the national flag was waving on the stage as they danced. The acrobatics displayed by the dancers conveyed different meanings to the song and music.

The Prince Dance Group put together by Krishna Reddy gave a breathtaking performance of "Dash avatar" - the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu. The self trained group drew wide applause from the audience. It was a unique and refreshing experience for the people who witnessed the show. I had never earlier seen such a dance form. The way the artists performed the dance made be speechless, said T.Nageswar, a 45 year spectator from Visakhapatnam.

The other highlight of the evening was a scintillating ‘Kuchipudi’ dance performed by the artists from Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh. The colorful performance captivated the huge gathering of about 50,000 audiences who enjoyed the series of cultural events till late night.

Then there was the popular ‘Bhangda’ performance that originates from Punjab. While performing Bhangra, the artists started singing Punjabi Boliyaan lyrics, while at least one person played the dhol drum. Than the dancers began to move in a circle around the drummer, who now and then lifts the two sticks, with which he beats the drum, to beckon the dancers to a higher tempo of movement.

The closing ceremony also witnessed a folk dance related to the festival of Bihu in Assam. This dance was performed by young men and women and it was characterized by brisk dance steps and rapid hand movement. Dancers wore traditional colourful Assamese outfits. Artists from Rajasthan also performed Chakri and Bhawai dance.

Local artistes also presented a couple of performances, namely ‘Dhemsa’, Kathi, Bazasal, Kureifula and paraja dances.  Though all the troupes performed well, it was the Prince Dance Group which added glamour to the evening. Rayagada Collector Nitin Bhanudas Jawale, his Koraput counterpart Sachin and Malkangiri Collector & District Council of Culture Chairman Balwant Singh, Superintendent of Police Anirudha Singh were present in the closing day ceremony

CM clears Rs 662-crore project to bring PTGs to mainstream

The Chief Minister cleared a 662-crore project for all-round development of the Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs) to bring them to the mainstream. According to official sources, the project would be implemented in 12 schedule districts having sizable PTGs. The project prepared by the SC and ST Development Department envisages capacity building, empowerment and building community infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also asked the department to complete appointment of 2,000 teachers in the schools, meant for the SC and ST students and managed by the department, by December 15. Patnaik, while reviewing the progress of the construction of hostels for tribal boys and girls and their education, told officials of the department to ensure completion of the 935 hostels under construction before the next academic year.

According to sources, the State Government had sanctioned for construction of 3,362 hostels for three lakh tribal boys and 40,000 tribal girls . Out of that while 1,034 hostels had already been completed during 2007-08, another 500 hostels were completed during 2008-09. As many as 935 hostels are now under construction.

The Chief Minister stressed the need for providing facilities for extra-curricular activities along with the normal education for the tribal students to bring them to the mainstream.

Source: The Pioneer  

Tourism package for Malkangiri district announced at Malyabanta Mahotsav

The Odisha Government is determined to promote tourism in the tribal-dominated district of Malkangiri in South Odisha, said Culture and Tourism Minister.

Addressing a gathering after inaugurating Malyabanta Mahotsav-2011 the Minister declared a package of 1 crore for the tourism and infrastructure development of Satiguda dam and Manikeswari Shiva Temple.

The inaugural day of the three-day Malyabanta Mahostav-2011 saw troupes from Assam, Punjab, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Puri, Mayurbhanj, Titilagarh and Bhubaneswar perform. Gotipua, Chhau, Odissi and Dhap presented by the artistes on the day left the audience spellbound.

Also speaking on the occasion District Collector Balwant Singh said the festival was aimed at providing an opportunity to the tribal folk to exhibit their latent talents on a common platform. More than 50,000 people enjoyed the programme despite the cold weather. 

Famous Tribal Festival Parab-2011 Kicked off

Source: Orissa Diary

Inaugurating the Tribal Festival Parab Pyari Mohan Mahapatro, MP said that this not only shelters but also promotes the hidden talents of Koraput. The programme as an initiative by the District Council Of Culture, Koraput is a long event that began on 24th of the last month October covering throughout Panchayat and Block level by conducting events such as sports, cultural activities and the mega event Parab that is going to run for three days 16th to 18th of November at its last stage. Thousands of tribals have gathered here in their traditional attire to participate in the event that seeks to showcase the region’s rich cultural heritage.

On its first day Mr. Sukhram Majhi, Miss. Subhasmita Mohanty, Miss Pramila Kirshani were honoured for sports, Late Surya Pattnaik, Mr. Gopal Krishna Samantray, Mr. Jogendra Mohanty were honoured in the field of art and culture, Dr. Rajendra Kumar Padhi was honoured for his Excellency in Promoting of education in tribal areas, Mr. Dasarathi Mali honoured for his effort in the field of agriculture and last but not the least Mr. Harihara Pradhan was honoured for his dedication towards  theater performing art (Desia Nat).

The Chairman of the event Mr. Sachin Ramchandra Jadhav, Collector Koraput read out the objectives of Parab and threw light on the importance of Parab. Mr. Jayaram Pangi, MP, Koraput, Mr. Raghuram Podal, MLA, Koraput and Mr, Jhinna Hikaka, MLA, Laxmipur have expressed their say on this event. The vote of thanks was given by Mr. Chudamani Seth, Project Director, DRDA, and Koraput.

Gopalpur beach festival from January 11 to 15

Gopalpur beach festival would be held in January this time rather than in December like earlier years. This five-day beach festival would be held from January 11 to 15. Earlier date of this beach festival used to coincide with Christmas. This decision was taken at the first preparatory meeting for the beach festival held in Berhampur city. This beach festival is organised every year jointly by the Ganjam district administration and Ganjam District Hoteliers' Association (GDHA) to promote tourism at this beach resort and to show case cultural heritage of South Odisha. The preparatory meeting was chaired by Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) southern division, Laxmi Narayan Nayak. It was attended by Ganjam Collector Kishan Kumar, MLAs of Gopalpur and Berhampur and many office bearers.

Decision to shift dates of the beach festival was taken at the request of the GDHA. The GDHA felt holding of beach festival during festive tourist season was putting extra pressure on the small beach resort. Added to it large crowd that gathers up for the beach festival and clogged traffic was also causing problems for the tourists who check in hotels of the beach resort during that time. Holding of this beach festival during January would add up another tourist season for the beach resort, felt GDHA. This famous beach festival had been started during 90s by the GDHA and this famous beach is just 9km away from Berhampur city. Source: The Hindu

Annual tribal fest MONDEI kicks off in Nabarangpur, South Odisha

Report by Basant Rath

The inaugural function of Mondei organized with much fanfare. A congregation of local dance troupes kicked off the five day mega cultural festival of the district ‘Mondei – 2011’ in Nabarangpur with the traditional march from Sadashiva Tripathy park to Mondei ground.

Hon’ble Minister tourism Prafulla Samal,  along with Hon’ble Minister of Information Technology Ramesh Chandra Majhi, local MLAs Manohar Randhari, Bhujabala Majhi, Chairperson of Nabarangpur Municipality Prahallad Tripathy, District Collector Sibabrata Dash etc performed puja at the temple before the colourful carnival procession took on Mahatma Gandhi Marg. Besides the traditional folk dance troupes, hundreds of townsmen along with the block level   took part in the procession.

The procession saw tribal villagers with folk culture, a number of tribal musical parties and various tribal fancy shows performed along the way. The Mondei carnival reached the Mondei Rangamanch in the evening. The inauguration function was held at night.

The festival was highly successful in showcasing unique cultural and traditional heritage of the district and its people; in identifying hidden talents in various fields; contributing to revamping the old traditions and bringing recognition to those; and above all in recasting socio-cultural integrity and amalgamation.

 “Explore Nabarangpur” published by NGPURNEWS was inaugurated by the chief guest and guests at the function. Troupes from Uttarakhand, West Bihar, Himanchal Pradesh, Sambalpur, Bhanjanagar (Ganjam), Kokshora, Chandahandi, Nabarangpur Municipality, performed folk dances.

Source: TOI

Famous Parab-2011 kicks off in Koraput, South Odisha

Thousands of tribals gathered in their traditional attire to participate in the event that seeks to showcase the region's rich cultural heritage. The tribals performed their traditional dances at the inaugural ceremony, attended by district collector Sachin Ramchandra Jadhav, Koraput MP Jayaram Pangi, who lit the festival torch, Koraput SP Anup Kumar Sahoo and Koraput and Laxmipur MLAs, among others. The fest features a number of competitive sporting events, tribal dances, songs, traditional instrumental music and a mini marathon and cycle rally, which were introduced last year. The festival itself was started in 1996 to showcase the culture of the region. "The aim of the festival is to protect and promote the region's rich cultural heritage. We are confident that this year's festival will make a different statement in terms of participation and vibrancies," the collector said. "The event has already generated a great deal of interest among tourists. We hope to see more outsiders visiting our district this time. In fact, we are working on a plan on how the district could be developed into a tourist destination," he added.

The block and district level festival-cum-competition will be on till November 14, with the grand finale on November 16-18 at the stadium ground of the district headquarters town of Koraput. Source: TOI

MGCHRI to set up cancer hospital in south Odisha

Oncologists feel rural and ignorant women of the State are prone to threat of cervical cancer. Addressing a press meet in Berhampur city oncologists from Mahatma Gandhi Cancer Hospital and Research Institute (MGCHRI) of Visakhapatnam said lifestyle-related cancer threat also looms over people of Odisha.

Surgical oncologist and managing director of the cancer institute Murali Krishna Voona said with education and better lifestyle incidence of cervical cancer was going down among women. Radiation oncologist of the institute Kanhu Charan Patro described how change in lifestyle has started to increase occurrence of breast cancer in traditional states like Odisha. According to him one of the major reasons is the blind adaptation of cosmopolitan lifestyle in the educated women in the upper economic strata. “But the silver lining is that due to increased consciousness women with developing breast cancer are being identified early for timely medical intervention”, said Dr Murali Krishna..

The MGCHRI is planning to establish a cancer hospital in south Odisha. “We have started viability survey of the project in the area”, said Dr Murali Krishna. On October 31 a clinic of the institute was opened in Berhampur city which would be visited by oncologists from the Visakhapatnam based cancer hospital every month. The MGCHRI declared to extend its subsidised treatment for BPL families of Andhra Pradesh to the poor patients of Odisha also. Source: The Hindu