The state level Adivasi Mela of tribal Odisha came to an end by 9 PM today. In this eleven days extravaganza the public response was overwhelming. Beautifully and artistically conceived and designed structures in the venue of the mela has splendidly produced the ambience of unity and diversity of tribal cultures of Odisha. The cultural programmes were also superb. The population of the mela for this year has surpassed all previous records.

His Excellency Governor of Odisha Shri Muralidhar Chandrakant Bhandare graced the occasion of the closing ceremony. After making a round of the stalls he arrived at the pandal of the open air auditorium accompanied by the Shri Santosh Kumar Sarangi, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, ST & SC Development, Shri S. K. Popli, Director, (ST & SC) –cum – Additional Secretary, ST & SC Decvelopment Department, Shri B. K. Nayak, Member Secretary, Academy of Tribal Languages & Culture (ATLC) and Prof. (Dr.) Premananda Panda, Director, SC & ST Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI). His Excellency Governor released two research journals i.e. “Banaja” published by ATLC and “Adivasi” published by SCSTRTI. He also felicitated 10 tribal talents of Odisha who proved their mettle in the fields of sports, literature, tribal herbal medicine, folk art and the like and awarded prizes the ITDA, Micro Project and Government Departments stalls who were judged 1st, 2nd and 3rd in their theme pavilion on tribal life and livelihood to the Odisha Tribal Empowerment and Livelihood (OTELP) project.

The tribal talents honoured were Shri Khyamanidhi Bhoi Shri Sridhar Singh and Dr. Damayanti Besra for literature; Shri Piyush Munda and Tashil Tappo for ethno-medicine; Ms. Laxmi Priya Majhi and Ms. Pramila Kirsani for sports; Shri Jayadev Nayak for pala singing and Shri Sudan Konhar for social service.

Among the ITDA stalls the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes were awarded to ITDA, Rairangpur, ITDA, Gunpur and ITDA, Kuchinda respectively. Among the Micro Project the Chukutia Bhunjia Development Agency, Sunabeda stood first, the Bonda Development Agency, Mudulipada stood second and the Paudi Bhuinya Development Agency, Rugudakudar stood third.

For the government stalls the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes were bagged by the Directorate of Horticulture, Minor Irrigation Department and Mahila Vikash Samabaya Nigam respectively.

After distribution of prize His Excellency Governor addressed the audience. He was very happy about the growing awareness and appreciation of the general public about the tribal culture and for that matter, the increasing popularity of Adivasi Mela. He emphasized on the conservation and promotion of tribal culture, arts and crafts and folk traditions.

The business was brisk in all the stalls and especially the Adivasi Haat and Food court. The food court was over crowded and the customers had to wait long to get their orders serviced. Customers also thronged the Adivasi Haat to procure their domestic provisions on the last day. They returned home cherishing the hope to visit again in the coming year for a taste of tribal Odisha.

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