The Folk Fest 2025 conducted by the Centre for Folk Culture Studies of School of Social Sciences (SSS), University of Hyderabad (UoH), an Institution of Eminence (IoE) in association with the Department of Language & Culture (DLC), Government of Telangana concluded with upholding the spirit of ‘Unity in Diversity’ on 24th January, 2025.
The two-day fest spearheaded by the head of the Centre Prof. Joly Puthussery was inaugurated by Prof. Y. A. Sudhakar Reddy, former Dean of SSS and Professor (Rtd.) of the Centre who fondly took the audience along the memory lanes of setting up the Centre with the Ford Foundation Grant, 1990 and highlighted the uniqueness of folk culture. The event on day one of the fest was set about by Prof. P. S. Kanaka Durga, (Rtd.) of the Centre inaugurating “Visualising Culture – The Heritage and Folklore of Rarh”, an exhibition on Rarh folklore by Dr. Md Intaz Ali, Netaji Subhash Open University and Patachitra workshop by renowned artist Ranjit Chitrakar. The event witnessed Karakatam performance by Kalai Kulu team from Madurai depicting sakti karakam and aatu karakam and the beats of temple festival (vizha) and funeral (savadi). The audience engaged in trying their hands on the karagam, the pot and the drums. The forenoon session also had paper presentations by assistant professors Dr. Justin Selvaraj, Madurai Kamaraj University & Dr. Rajasekharan, Central University of Karnataka on performing folk arts.
The post-lunch session enthralled the audience by K. Ramachandran’s documentary “Thirai Koothu” on the maritime theatrical tradition of Chavittu natakam of the coastal region of Kochi, Kerala, followed by an interactive discussion. Ranjit Chitrakar captured the audience with colourful strokes on scrolls, narrating myths and folktales from West Bengal. The artists were felicitated by Prof. Ghanashyam Krishna, Director, IoE, UoH.
A cultural show in the evening curated scintillating performances celebrating varied folk arts cut across the regions. The show included Karagatam, Thappattam and Mayilattam. Moumita Saha Antora, a student of the University performed Bangladeshi folk dance and Drubha Nanda Roy, a student of the Centre and Tulon Molia, a student of the department of Physics along with the Assam performers Manin Rajbongshi & Dhanjit Barman showcased Bihu dance and beats.
The day two of the fest witnessed the academic discussions on folk culture and its changing contexts by the scholars, Dr. Govinda Varma Raja, former head of the Department of Folklore, Calicut University, Dr. Rethi Thampatty (former principal, Zamorin’s Guruvayurappan College, Kozhikode, and Dr. Intaj Ali.
A glimpse of the folk tradition of Dangal of Rajasthan was presented by Bishnu and Prof. Bhim Singh, Department of Hindi, UoH. The fest featured Malayalam folk songs by Ganga Saurav, Ph.D. Scholar, University of Karnataka and Telugu folk songs by the artist Dr. Linga Srinivas. Also, Perani was performed by Varkala Vasumati, Department of Dance, UoH and team.
A cultural spectacle was arranged ranging from crowd-pulling Oggudolu by Oggu Ravi and his troupe. Purnendu Das, the Baul singer from West Bengal sang with dotura and khamak (anandalahari) radiating waves of happiness through the mystic music of Baul. An electrifying performance of the Inpui and Tangkhul folk songs by Padma Shri Guru Rewben Mashangva from Manipur took the audience by storm as he sang along with his handmade flute Yangkahui, harmonica, and acoustic guitars.
An interactive session with Rewben Mashangva and Purnendu Das was chaired by Dr. Hashik N.K. (Assistant Professor, Tezpur University) and Prof. Bhim Singh (UoH) and moderated by Intaj Ali and Dr. Rhelo Kenye (Comparative Literature, UoH). The book titled “Orality, Written and the Digital” by Dr. Intaj Ali was released by Prof. J. Bheemaiah, Professor, Centre forComparative Literature, UoH.
The fest was coordinated by Nijil. V, Assistant Professor of the Centre. Aligning with the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the SSS, spearheaded by Prof. Jyotirmaya Sharma, Dean, School of Social Sciences, it was funded by the UoH-IoE grant.
Prof. B. J. Rao, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Hyderabad graced the occasion and felicitated the artists. He emphasized the need to cherish the richness of our country and the role of folk culture in bridging past and future, tradition and modernity.
The Centre expresses its gratitude for making the fest a huge success and a one of its kind event.