This sounds really cool to me.

Martial arts fest ushers in peace
- South Korean & Tibetan dancers perform
OUR CORRESPONDENT

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 24: With the snow-white peace pagoda serving as its perfect backdrop, the sixth Kalinga Mahotsav, an exclusive martial dance festival, unfolded atop the historic Dhauli hills here on Saturday.

Hosted by the tourism department in association with city-based cultural institute, Art Vision, the three-day festival remains the brainchild of Padmashree Ileana Citaristi, the Italian Odissi dancer, who made Orissa her home about three decades ago.

For the first time, dance troupes from abroad — Korea and Tibet — have been performing at this unique event that attracts tourists from abroad since its inception in 2003.

Each year the festival, exclusively dedicated to martial arts, is held at the footsteps of the Buddhist peace pagoda situated on a hill on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.

Emperor Asoka is believed to have fought the Kalinga war at this place before laying down his sword and embracing Buddhism.

The calm and solemn statue of Buddha overlooking the entire stage from the top of the peace pagoda and the tranquil expanse of the countryside provides the peaceful background to the outburst of movements and sounds which accompanied the performance of the martial artists.

The objective of this festival is to harmonise the vigour of martial tradition with the inspiration of peace through the art of dance, explained Citaristi.

“While the festival features the vibrant martial dance traditions of India, Dhauli hill has been chosen as its venue since this place symbolises the victory of peace over war,” she added.

South Korea troupe Rodugakwas performed the martial dance-based choreography on the first evening. The performance was about human life cycle structured in six brief scenes, each dealing roughly with confusion, birth, passion, ordeal, nirvana, and so forth.

A variety of martial arts such as taeguk, sunmudo, acrobatics, bongsul (Chinese stick techniques), sword dance and technique were extensively used in the piece.

This was followed by tatteta gullu, an acrobatic and drum dance from Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh and heroic ballads from Uttar Pradesh by Fouzdar Singh Alhasamrat.

This evening had in store the topa todhung, a Tibetan martial dance and the Paiko dance from Orissa. The spao warrior dance from Ladakh was also performed by Northern Art Cultural Group from Leh.