14th Dhauli-Kalinga Mahotsav begins in a colourful evening

Bhubaneswar: The 14th Dhauli-Kalinga Mahotsav on Friday kick-started in a colourful evening with the invocation of peace befitting to the occasion commemorating what King Ashoka had professed in 3rd Century BC.

The 14th Dhauli-Kalinga Mahotsav is jointly organised by Department of Tourism, Orissa Dance Academy and Art Vision.

The festival contains cultural multiplicity and a whole range of diverse stream of performing arts, be it classical, folk or martial.

The festival is a unique confluence of more than five hundred artists belonging to various art forms of Indian dance tradition and it celebrates unity in diversity.

The main objective of this festival is to preserve, promote and popularize the heritage at the national and international level.

The first item of the inaugural evening was instrumental fusion by Shivagni, Bhubaneswar.

Combining themselves into a rich pool of talent and experience, the Shivagni ensemble demonstrates the vitality and the appeal that good music, performed with perfect coordination and understanding.

Next presentation was Manipuri Dance by Priti Patel & group, Anjika School of Manipuri Dance, Kolkata.

Their presentation was Turel – Listen to the River purely based on water. The item was choreographed by Priti Patel, assisted by Th. Imocha Singh, W. Karuna Devi and music by W. Suraj Kumar, K. Ratan Singh.

The concluding item was Chhau Martial Dance by Subhashree Mukherjee and Group.

They have presented the item Panchabhuta means five elements, visualized through different choreographic patterns.

The presentation was choreographed by Dr Ileana Citaristi and music composed by Shantanu Mohapatra and Niranjan Bhol.