Sikkim Folk dancers enthrall Patnaites with their folk dance 'ghantu' and 'tamang selo

PATNA: More than 50 folk dancers of five states of the eastern zone enthralled Patnaites here on Thursday at the two-day 'Lok Kala Utsav' organized jointly by the Eastern Zonal Culture Centre (EZCC), Kolkata and state's art and culture department at Rabindra Bhawan.

Folk dancers from Assam, Mizoram, Odisha, Sikkim and Manipur captivated the audience with their enchanting dance performances.

As many as 13 artistes, all in colourful dresses from Manipur, performed on 'dhol dholak cholom', a dance usually performed with 'dhol' in hand during Holi festival, worshipping God Krishna and Radha.

The Assamese artistes captivated the audience with their 'bohag bihu' or 'rangoli bihu' dance, which is one of the most colourful folk dances of the country and is performed while welcoming the spring season.

Sikkim artistes enthralled the audience with their folk dance 'ghantu' and 'tamang selo'. 'Cheraw' or bamboo dance was performed by folk dancers from Mizoram. 'Gotipua' and 'sambalpuri' was performed by young folk dancers from Odisha.

Earlier, inaugurating the function, art and culture minister Sukhda Pandey said, "We need to make special efforts to encourage folk and tribal art forms of our country. Such programmes help in preservation and strengthening of the art forms that are currently languishing and face extinction."

Speaking on this occasion, director EZCC, Kolkata, Anup Matilal said, "We organize such programmes with a view to encourage artistes and to involve youth. Such programmes strengthen and promote the cultural interlinkages among the states."

TOI