Month-long Wari Leeba festival / workshop concludes
Source: The Sangai Express
Thoubal, October 02 2023:
The 30-day long Wari Leeba (storytelling artform) Festival cum Workshop based on Mahabharata concluded today.
The valedictory function of the festival was held at the premises of the Rural Development Foundation at Yairipok Bamol Leikai in Thoubal district.
The 30-day long festival was organised by the Foundation under the financial assistance of the Cultural Function and Grant Scheme, Ministry of Culture.
Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy (JNMDA) Director Pukhrambam Bilash graced the occasion as the chief guest, Rural Development Foundation President Khadangbam Ingocha as the president and State Kala Akademi Awardee Laikhuram Mani as the guest of honour.
The main events of today's programme include episodes on storytelling, presentation of gifts to elderly storytellers followed by a feast.
Addressing the gathering as the chief guest, Pukhrambam Bilash recalled his childhood days where Wari leeba was a popular artform where the storytellers used to narrate epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata with great enthusiasm.
Wari Leeba used to hold great significance and was a common feature in traditional events and festivals, he added.
Expressing concern on the dying tradition of Wari Leeba art form, he highlighted the importance of conducting workshops and programmes to revive this unique and culturally significant art form.
Bilash also stressed on the need of making collective efforts by the younger generation to preserve Wari Leeba artform by safeguarding the norms and traditions laid by the forefathers.
The youths should be enthusiastic to learn this culturally important artform of storytelling, he added.
It is worth noting that the Rural Development Foundation has been making relentless efforts to preserve the dying Wari Leeba artform by conducting various programmes over the past few decades.