The two-day North Eastern Cultural and Dance Festival began at the Wellington House on Irwin Road under the auspices of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya in city last evening.

A variety of dances performed during various occasions like festivals, rituals, harvests, arrival of seasons were showcased by artistes from Manipur and Assam.

As the saying goes ‘the loss of culture is the greatest loss to society’, tribal culture is not far from disappearing. At this critical hour, we need to cradle and nurture tribal art forms as they are the very essence of tribal culture.

The dance festival began with the Manipuri troupe performing an act on Dashavatara (the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu) based on Jayadeva’s ‘Gita Govinda’; after which, a variety of Manipuri and Assamese dance forms like Hamzar, Sathriya and Bihu were performed.  Vibrant costumes, elaborate headgears coupled with soft music and breezy movements summed up the show.

The highlight of the event was definitely the Huyen Langlon martial arts performed by the locals of Manipur. Boys equipped with swords, axes and shields enthralled the audience with their swift movements. Wild cheer and tremendous applause from the audience added energy to the combat.

All in all, our chilly Mysuru was enveloped with warmth from the Seven Sisters of India !

Those who missed the cultural  show yesterday can witness the celebration of dance at the Wellington House today also from 6 pm onwards.

By Stuti Ravikumar