CUTTACK: ‘Cuttack in Cuttack’, a dedicated pavilion at Baliyatra, will showcase life in an Indian village this year. Spread over six-acre land on the lower Baliyatra ground, the pavilion will have thatched houses, farms, shops and other aspects of a village. Around 50 thatches houses with cowsheds will be set up at the pavilion which will be dotted with hills and fountains. While a pond is being dug up for fish farming in coordination with the Fisheries department, a farm for cow, goat, pig and poultry farming is being prepared in association with the Directorate of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services.
Visitors will be made aware of different subsidies being provided by the two departments for encouraging fish and animal farming. Besides, the pavilion will have a temple, ‘bhagabat tungi’, school, anganwadi centre and rural shops. Visitors can also have a glimpse of different old household articles like ‘palanquin’, ‘dhinki’ (a wooden tool used for husking rice manually), ‘doli’ (a large container made of bamboo plates for storing rice) and ‘ghuma’ (a container made of clay for storing rice). The pavilion will have selfie points as well. This apart, around 70 stalls will be set up at the pavilion where traditional handmade household articles and home decoration items will be on sale.
“We are trying to provide a glimpse of of rural lifestyle at the Baliyatra festival. The pavilion will have a first-of-its-kind gallery where visitors can witness several old articles which are fast fading into oblivion,” said Asit Samal, production manager of Bhubaneswar-based event management service Eyeball Promotions Pvt Ltd which has been assigned the task of setting up the rural lifestyle pavilion and two stages for cultural programmes for Rs 1.6 crore.