Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi will attend the upcoming Dhanu Jatra at Odisha’s Bargarh town.

The MLAs from Bargarh district had requested the Chief Minister to attend Dhanu Jatra, considered as the largest open-air theatre in the world.

The annual festival is scheduled to begin on January 3 next year. It will continue for 11 days and conclude on January 13.

Accepting the request, the Chief Minister, while speaking at an event at Sohela in Bargarh district today, announced that he would attend the upcoming Dhanu Jatra at the western Odisha town.

The annual festival is celebrated across 8-km radius at Bargarh municipality and its nearby areas. The festival is enacted on the theme of ‘Mathura Vijay’, which depicts the victory of Lord Krishna against his uncle and demon king Kansa.

The entire Bargarh town is decked up as Mathura while nearby Ambapali village turns into mythological Gopapura for the drama-based open-air theatrical performance.

The Jeera river, located close to Bargarh, is considered as Yamuna during Dhanu Jatra. Each and every resident of Bargarh consider themselves as the subjects of demon king Kansa during the festival. Several episodes related to the childhood of Lord Krishna and Lord Balaram are enacted during the 11-day festival.

The people of Bargarh have been organising the festival since 1947. According to locals, Dhanu Jatra was first organised at Bargarh in 1947 to celebrate the independence of India from the British rule.

During his first term as Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik had attended Bargarh Dhanu Jatra in 2002.

Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo and Biju Patnaik had attended the festival during their tenure as Odisha Chief Minister in 1970 and 1993 respectively.