Chandigarh, 30 January, 2016: On the
penultimate day of the Chandigarh National Crafts Mela, a joint venture of
Chandigarh Administration and the North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC), at
Kalagram here, throngs of incurable Mela buffs continue to drop in the Mela
venue to enjoy the multi hues of North and North East states, offering a
bonanza of art and crafts activity. Today being a holiday in offices, people
started pouring in since morning and the crowd had touched the 20 thousands
mark by the evening. The bright sunny day today offered respite from the foggy
weather conditions prevailing during the past days, which failed to dampen the
soaring spirits of Mela enthusiasts.
Today’s stage
performances featured folk artistes from various parts of the country, who
presented their folk dances and songs. Prominent among them were ‘Guti Pua’, a
liturgical dance sequence from Uddisha, followed by ‘Dhamali’ a folk dance of
Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), an invocation to appease the reigning deity,
‘Banna’’, a folk dance of Haryana, ‘Gaddi’ dance of Himachal Pradesh. Folk
dances of Punjab and Nagaland were also presented on the occasion. All the
performances received a huge round of applause from the audience.
The 9th day
of the ongoing Chandigarh Crafts today turned out to be a huge crowd puller
with the Mela buffs thronging the venue from far and near to be part of the
colourful cultural extravaganza of sorts. This year’s underlying theme - ‘North
to North East’ (Kashmir to Kohima) - was well lived up seen the response from
North and North East states of the country. The peppy beats of ‘Dhol’ and
‘Nagadas’, accompanied by the haunting sounds of ‘Algoza’ and
‘Bansuri’ (Flute) and other musical instruments rant the air, which created a
kind of musical miasma.
Dressed in their
traditional ensembles, artistes from Rajasthan performed Kaachi-Ghori, a
popular folk dance of the region. Folk dances of Punjab, Haryana and Karnataka
and other regions were also performed during the day. Dare devil acrobatic acts
by ‘Baazigars’ of Punjab and ‘Been-jogi’ artistes, turned out to be a virtual
show stealer. Young and the old were seen posing for photographs and selfies
with the ‘Bahurupiyas’ posing as Lord ‘Shiva’, ‘Hanuman’ and ‘Charlie Chaplin’.
It was a children day in a way when they enjoyed a host of amusement
activities, including joy rides in toy jeep, train, car, motorbikes and swings
in the merry-go-round.
There was an
unprecedented rush of ‘Rangoli’ enthusiasts at Rangoli exihibition here, where
‘Rangoli’ artists had created winsome images of some feathered friends,
children playing in the park, women culling tea leaves, shepherd tending herds,
et al. Designer furniture stalls did brisk business while ceramic crockery item
and dried flower petal stalls, artificial jewellery stalls, handicraft and
handloom item stalls, too, were in demand. Foodies had a date with the
lip-smacking fare of regional flavours from North and North-East states,
including Bihar, Nagaland, Hyderabad, Rajashtan, Uttar Pradesh (UP), Karnataka,
Punjab, and Goa et al.
The evening segment
had a power-packed performance presented by Mizocardinal Choir Group
from Mizoram, which was highly appreciated by the audience, followed by a
fusion of Classical Dance (Kathak) presented by Pandit Sandeep Mahavir and
troupe from Mumbai on the second day today on the persistent demand of the
public. It was now an evening soaked in pulsating folk music from Punjab, where
renowned singer Satwinder Bugga, enthralled the audience for an hour or so. The
songs he doled out were ‘Vichhran, vichhran kardi ein...’, ‘Tuttan wali thandi
thandi chhan...’, Chhalle naal jugni attach ho gayi...’Rub de samaan sanu kehn
waliye...’.
On the last day of the 10-day
Mela, Bhangra king Daler Mahandi will entertain the music lovers, where he will
rustle out his hit foot-tapping numbers, one after the other, from 6pm,
onwards.
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