Nagpur: The 29th Orange City Craft Mela and Folk Dance Festival got off to a colourful start at South Central Zone Cultural Centre (SCZCC), Civil Lines in Nagpur.
The programme was inaugurated on Friday at the hands of Dr Brijesh Dixit, Managing Director, Maha Metro; Ravindra Thakre, Additional Commissioner, Adivasi Vikas Mahamandal; Prashant Satyanathan, Advocate Senior Counsel. Dr Deepak Khirwadkar, Director, SCZCC; Deepak Kulkarni, Assistant Director, SCZCC; and Gopal Betawar, Assistant Director (programmes), SCZCC were prominently present at the event.
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Dr Dixit said, “It takes hard work, dedication and passion to keep culture alive and thriving today. This part of our life is equally important. And this grand celebration does more than giving a platform to art forms, it brings people together. SCZCC is in a way a bridge between culture and people today.”
Congratulating the efforts of the team, Ravindra Thakre and Prashant Satyanath wished the very best to SCZCC. The handicraft exhibition spread across the campus will be open to all every day from 2 pm to 9.30 pm while the cultural programme will begin at 6.30 pm. The festival will continue till January 22, at SCZCC.
There are men with peacock feathers and flowers in their hair–their jewellery clinking as they sway to the music. There’s another sonorous sound emerging from the bells tied to their feet. There’s ‘Bhapang’ players from Rajasthan singing the tunes of simple mundane life in the state of Rajasthan. There are young women blushing and smiling brightly as they dance. The colourful tinsels and ‘Songi Mukhota’, a vibrant dance by men, both old and young exhibiting prowess and skill.
And finally there’s a young man standing on the shoulders of his brothers as he waves the tricolour high in the night sky; and god one thinks ‘life is beautiful’. One’s heart fills and expands with pride and sheer joy while watching a celebration of India folk dances, art and culture at the 29thOrange City Craft Mela and Folk Dance Festival.
The stage was decorated with a moon cut-out, warli paintings from the Sahyadri displayed across the stage, little lanterns hanging on the windows, and finally the stage lights—all symbolic of the unique inclusivity of Indian culture. This grand celebration of craft, art and folk dance has begun at South Central Zone Cultural Centre (SCZCC).
