Unique tribal dance festival ends in Odisha

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], Dec. 19 (ANI): A three-day National Tribal Dance Festival, 2016, a forum which showcases different tribal dances, concluded in Bhubaneshwar's Utkal Mandap area. Jointly organised by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the SC/ST Training Research Institute, the Tribal Dance Festival began on Thursday and came to an end on Sunday. At least 22 different tribes from four states participated in the event. Among the dance forms that was shown during the event includes Nakchung Reni, performed by Assam's Rabha tribe, Jharkhand's Sarfa Dance by Santhal and Ho Tribe of Jharkhand, Odisha's Birli Dance by Dharua Tribe of Koraput, and Jharkhand's Hulki dance. Enthralled by performance, the multi-cultural dance drew wide applause from the visitors here. The Director of SC/ST Training Research Institute, the co-organiser of the event said that there are at least 75 primitive tribes in India out of which 22 exist in Odisha. Tibetan spiritual guru and the head of Gurugram based World Buddhist Cultural Trust Doboom Tulkuwas was also present in the event. The tribal dance is a yearly event and an initiative of the Tribal Affairs Ministry which aims to give platform to showcase unique dance forms of different tribal communities. (ANI)