Bhubaneswar: Festive fervour has gripped the Capital city with people on their toes to celebrate the Makar festival.
Meanwhile, kite flying marked the 74th weekly Patha Utsav on Janpath Road, ahead of the Makar Sankranti Monday.
This Sunday, the theme of the street gala was ‘Kite festival’. This apart, a display of unique art form using 10,000 pins and six-km-long nylon thread was done by artist Debi Prasad Rout. The self-taught artist Rout, from Sundarpada, who spent 250 hours to create the unique work, said, “This is the first finished work by me using pins and thread. I am also working on other ideas and they would be over very soon. I have a small organisation called DPR Artlife and we are working on pure and applied art, fashion, craft, décor and interior.” Elaborating on his choice of Kalam as a theme he said, “However, as the famous scientist inspired every Indian with his simple life and noble thought, I dedicated my first major work to him.”
Among other regular attractions were music bands, presence of Odia cine artists, decorated stage, song, dance, cycling, walking, playing and skating, which made Patha Utsav a major event to promote non-motorised transport (NMT) and healthier lifestyle.
People gathered in huge numbers to witness the street festival. Many dance groups showcased their talent. People had a gala time flying kites and doing rangolis. The Patha Utsav aims to promote non-motorised transport and healthy lifestyle, sports, cycling, skating, yoga, Zumba dancing and sheer pleasure of walking along the Janpath, which is one of the busiest roads in the city.
The weekend street fest is organised by BDA in collaboration with Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, Odisha Tourism, Commissionerate Police and Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited.
Member Enforcement BDA and Nodal Officer for Patha Utsav Bhabani Shankar Chayani said, “We always encourage unique art and creative things at Patha Utsav. We would be happy to showcase more such things in future so that new talents would get a platform at the street festival.”
Nivedita Bhanja and her volunteers from Helpmate created traffic awareness and elaborated on road safety lessons. While distributing ‘Makar Chaula’, an auspicious rice offering on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, Helpmate activists in collaboration with Commissionerate Police made people promise to follow road safety norms. “We offered Makar Chaula and expect that people would keep their promises and always abide by road safety measures,” said Nivedita. The volunteers also took out a rally with placards to create awareness.
Many organisations also took part in popularising concept of better health, life and creativity such as paintings and creating beautiful objects from waste materials at the festival.
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