POST NEWS NETWORK Bhubaneswar: Students of Buxi Jagabandhu English Medium (BJEM) school staged various cultural traits of the people in the country to mark the school foundation day, Sunday. More than 200 stalls were set up wherein the children showcased various festivals and rituals such as Baita Bandana, Dola Purnima, Raja festival, Rath Yatra, Pala-Kirtan and Tulasi puja. This apart, mythological stories pertaining to killing of Mahishasur by Durga and death of Ekalavya in the hands of Kauravas of Mahabharata were enacted by the students who were also dressed in traditional attires. Principal Sandhya Jena said the event was meant to create students’ awareness for our traditions and culture. The programme, Christened Culture and Heritage, also showcased glimpses of national festivals and essence of Bhagabat Gita, marriages in India and religions among other things. The students also presented a live demo of various festivals which were adjudged by a 10member jury.
The students were given four languages – English, Oriya, Hindi and Sanskrit to express their cultural projects. Kumar Tarun, who portrayed the Chakulia Panda character, representing a sect of singers who go from door to door reciting poems drawn from classical Oriya literature and accept grain in return from the households, said he had read a good number of classical poems and understand their meaning with the help of his mother. Chakulias never seek alms, but accept whatever is offered to them with dignity. Aditya Mohanty, another student, presented a project on tribal language ho and said he researched on the dialect spoken by people of Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Assam and Bangladesh. Ho means human beings and it is written in Warang Citi script, he added. Artist Raghunath Mohapatra and educationist Digaraj Brahma attended the programme as chief guests. Addressing the gathering, he said the exhibition on ‘culture and heritage’ is a wonderful way to encourage the future generation to stay connected to the traditions.
