Nabarangpur,7th Nov 2025: A meeting regarding the selection of cultural troupes for the Mandei Festival 2025 was held on Thursday evening at the Ashok Meheta Hall, organized by the Nabarangpur District Culture Council. Discussions were held about the cultural programs for the main festival of Mandei, scheduled from December 12 to 14. The meeting was presided over by the committee president and Additional District Collector (General), Tapan Kumar Khuntia.
It was decided that the Mandei festival will feature the presentation of newly prepared opening music.
During the 3-day festival, cultural programs will be performed by invited artists from both within and outside the district. The District Cultural Troupe Selection Committee meeting was held, and the best troupes from various blocks were instructed to be sent to the committee for selection.
During the main three days of the festival, folk dance troupes from Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Mayurbhanj, Ganjam, Kalahandi, Balangir, Bargarh, and Puri districts, as well as traditional dance troupes from Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Assam, and Kerala, will participate.
For the 5-day night-long drama performances during the Mandei festival, all responsibilities were entrusted to Karshik Bhatra, the vice president of the District Arts and Culture Association. The meeting was conducted by the host and District Cultural Officer, Ghasiram Harijan.
Other members of the Cultural Troupe Selection Committee included DIPRO Manoj Kumar Behera, District Emergency Program Officer Himanshu Shekhar Pattnaik, senior actors, dance gurus, music gurus Manoj Pattnaik, Durga Padhi, Suresh Mishra, Shambhu Hota, Dileep Hota, Debdas Mahakud, Rajendra Nath Dulari, Ashok Mahant, Karshik Bhatra, Balaji Kishore Ray, T. Nivedita, Falguni Patra, Kalikinkar Pattnaik, and Yugal Kishore Tripathy.
The District Cultural Officer expressed gratitude, and Junior Assistant Atmaprakash Sahu along with colleague A. Santosh Kumar assisted in managing the entire program.
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