ODISHA HAS A TRIBAL STORY TELLING TRADITION
Uttam Nayak,Odishabarta
Koraput, Oct 31:The Central Sahitya Akademi Advisory Council’s host Bijayananda Singh has said that the story of the tribals is the core of Odisha’s life. Mr. Singh delivered a speech entitled “Traditional Narrative Narrative Tradition in Odisha” organized by a joint venture of the Graduate Oriya Department of Koraput Government College and the Central Literary Academy. “Today, the Central Literary Academy will publish a book on literature distributed by writers, researchers and students from different parts of the state,” he said. Devendra Kumar Devesh, the regional director of the academy, believes that the organization of such an event can encourage the tradition of speaking and listening among the people. According to Preetidhara Samal, an Oriya professor at a government college and a well-known poet in the state, very little work has been done on tribal storytelling, and such an initiative by the academy is aimed at preserving the traditions of the indigenous youth in the foothills like Koraput. “Indigenous languages and their way of life are on the verge of extinction,” he said. Today’s program was inaugurated by the Chancellor of Koraput Central University, Sarat Kumar Palita, while the keynote address was delivered by Indigenous Researcher and Professor Jagbandhu Samal. In addition, Umakant Das, Kamalakrishna Tripathi, Lopamudra Swayam, Rangita Bhuyang, Pradosh Kumar Swayam, Chandra Shekhar Hota, Preetidhara Samal, Jaldhar Swayam and Ravi Shatapathi read major articles. In the second session of the program, Prof. Bijay Kumar Shatapathi officiated. Rangita Bhuyang, Head, Oriya Department, Government College, thanked the students.
