109-year-old Orissa man performs Vedic martial dance

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109-year-old Orissa man performs martial dance

By Bibhuti Mishra in Orissa

 

A 109 year old man mesmerised the audience at the fifth 'Badinacha'

festival at Lehedi village in Sonepur with his performance of martial

dance.

 

The festival that was instituted by Chetana Trust five years back to

revive the folk and martial tradition of the western Orissa, was held

on October 2 and 3 this year.

 

Thirty teams of martial dancers from various villages in western

Orissa took part in the festival that was coordinated by Sabyasachi

Mohapatra,well-known film maker and chief editor of 'Chetana Barta'.

 

Nilanchal Pradhan(109) of Shandha village was specially felicitated

by Baikuntha Panigrahi, the Director of Doordarshan Kendra,

Bhubaneswar in the concluding function on 3 October.

 

Pradhan had danced and fought with sticks and his remarkable agility

and skill had kept the audience in raptures in this festival that was

marked by difficult acrobatics with sticks, cart wheel,wheel of

fire,and masocistic exhibitions like piercing the tongue with a

needle etc.

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