Chandigarh
4 November 2017
DIVYA AZAD
All roads led to Kalagram (Chandigarh) here on the second day of annual cultural fiesta, where with Mela enthusiasts from tri city and elsewhere thronging in their thousands to be a part of it. The 9th edition of Chandigarh National Crafts Mela, jointly organized by the North Zone Cultural Centre, Ministry of Culture (NZCC), Government of India, and Chandigarh Administration, currently underway offers fascinating folk colours of India.
With ‘Dadra Nagar Haveli’ being the theme of this season, NZCC has invited acclaimed handloom/ handicraft artisans from various parts of the country to showcase their traditional art and craft. Highly decorated crafts men from TRIFED, NABARD have been specially invited to be a part of this art and cultural extravaganza and showcase their art and artistic creations to a larger audience.
The hosts have had gone the whole hog to put up as many as 160 stalls, out of which 12 stalls had been allotted to artisan and craftsmen from U.T. Chandigarh and 3 to artisans from Dadra and Nagar Haveli. They had for the first time invited artisans from SAARC countries, including Thailand, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, et al, which had been a laudable initiative of the organizers to promote trade ties between them, besides strengthening mutual bonhomie and brotherhood.
Huge rush was witnessed at the stalls selling Benarsi sarees and fabric from Benaras, Tussar and raw silk from Maharashtra, Phulkari from Patiala, Dry flowers from North-Eastern states, stone paintings and other attractive crafts items from Jaipur, wooden toys from Uttar Pradesh (UP), thread from Kutch, Kohlapuri chappal from (slipper) Maharashtra, clay and ceramic wares from Thailand, designers’ carpets from Afghanitan and so on.
Foodies had a field day as they relished their choicest savories under one roof. They enjoyed the traditional lip-smacking treats from Dadra, Nagar Haveli, and choicest culinary delights from Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other states of the country rolling out a range of Indian dishes.
Earlier in the day, besides a string of ground performances, artistes from the state of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, West Bengal, and others regaled the audience with their pulsating folk dances skits and a host of other presentations. The evening segment brought a rich bonanza for the musical lovers. Those who performed on the occasion included Gurmeet, Ahita, Shobi, Deepika, Love and Sarabjit, Meenu, Vikram, Suman, Sajan, Simran and Baboo, who rendered Punjabi numbers immortalized by the legends like Surinder Kaur, Kuldeep Manak, Narinder Beeba and so on. These budding artistes performed under the musical direction of renowned music composer Varinder Bachan. This synchronized well with the NZCC’s sole objective to explore new talent and promote it.
The mela will continue till November 12
