To enrich and exchange the cultural traditions and heritages between different regions, Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC), under the ministry of culture organised the National Folk Festival recently in association with the cultural department of Kerala at Kollam.

Different folk traditions were performed to enrich and showcase cultural heritage of India. From West Bengal, the great cultural tradition of Dinajpur district is khon palagan (folk drama) that is also performed here along with three other traditions such as chokh chandi (lyrical dance), khojagar (lyrical dance) and gambhira mask dance. The khon palagan is a folk drama of Rajbanshi society and it talks about the daily life struggle of common people, rituals, customs, social, economic and political exploitation, illicit love relationship etc. That’s why the khon palagan is considered as the mirror of Rajbanshi society. The Rajbanshi society is the major community of the northern part of Bengal.

Called Mission Kalakranti, Bengal Kerala Mohotsavam – 2024, there were around 16 folk artists taking part in the event.

Sudeb Sarkar, director of Khon Academy and Research Centre said, “We have come from South Dinajpur. We performed khon palagan, chokh chandi, khojagar and gambhira in Kerala. We have been performing these art forms in front of national and international audiences in an effort to globalize our great cultural traditions,”. They also have a regional museum, Rajbanshi Traditional Museum at Kushmandi, South Dinajpur.

EZCC director Ashis Giri said, “This is an initiative of our chairman C V Ananda Bose, who is also the Governor of West Bengal. Under the Mission Kalakranti project, this is part of an effort to hold cultural exchange across states. At Kollam we showcased Bengal.”

The EZCC would also be holding a three-day Basanta Utsav next month at Santiniketan, which started last year. Also on anvil is Bengal Kerala Festival, where the southern state will be represented in Bengal with their cultural forms and food stalls. “At the Basanta Utsav, there will be baitalik, Rabindra nritya, adhunik, Baul and fakiri songs.”