Dhanuyatra bigins in Bargarh

The world famous Dhanu Yatra begins from Monday and with this Bargarh, cultural hub nub of Western Orissa comes under the rule of the Demon king Kansa who continues to rule the city till 31st Dec. the end of the year. The portrayal of king Kansa is considered as the main attraction of the 11-day long Yatra which will conclude on 31st Dec with the death of the demon king Kansa. In the festival every one is considered as an artist as people are considered as the obedient subjects of the kingdom of the king Kansa.The Yatra commences with the coronation of Kansa, the demon king of Matura and concludes with his death at the hands of lord Krishna. People

from all over the town take part in this theatre festival as they become the subjects of the king Kansa. And the whole area is transformed in to the kingdom of Kansa, just it was centuries back. Hrusikesh Bhoi, a 37 years young artist and by profession driver in a government office has been performing the role of Kansa and is trying hard to give more attraction to the carnival. It is his 2nd year of playing the role. Bargarh town is transformed in to Mathurapuri, the capital of Kansa’s kingdom and its residents become the obedient subjects of Kansa. The neighboring village Ambapali becomes the Gopapur and the River Jira which passes through both places is treated as river Jamuna.Organizers have been giving thrust on the role of the Kansa as he remains the main attraction of the Yatra. There were as many as 10 persons who have already performed the role of Kansa successfully since the inception of the Dhanu Yatra in the year 1948. Late Bundi Rath was the Kansa for few occasions in the initial periods and Judhistir Sathpathy did it for 15 years. Bhimsen Tripathy, Radhesyam Dash, Nilanchal Dash, Bhubaneswar Pradhan and Sanjib Dash had also performed the role of Kansa for short period. But it was the cop Gopal Sahu aka Eli who is considered champion with performing longest time of 22 years. But the organizing committee has replaced him since last year and Hrusikesh Bhoi becomes the new Kansa.

During the festival Kansa is made to mount on an elephant and goes round the town every day for a ‘Nagar Parikram’ and imposes fine on persons violating the law of his kingdom. He also listens to grievances of the people in his ‘Darbar’ and passes order to the officials including the Collector and SP of the District, as they become the officials of his court during the festival.
During the festival performance of all possible scenes starting from the birth of lord Krishna to the death of king Kansa in series every day. The festival comes to an end after the death of demon king Kansa.“This year we have planned to give more thrust on the cultural and folk dance of the region. Apart from the Mythological scenes we want to involve cultural and dance tropes of across the country.” collector and chairman of the managing committee Suresh Prasad Padhi told.