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Festival of India In Kuwait

The week long "Festival of India" , started on November 8,2009 , showcasing India's culture and art came to an end on November 14,2009. The festival was co-hosted by India's Ministry of Culture and the National Council of Culture,Arts and Letters(NCCAL),Kuwait. Such a "Festival of India" was held for the first time in Kuwait. The festival was held across multiple venues in Kuwait such as Keifan auditorium, the Grand Mosque auditorium, Al-Sadu House, Al Fanoon Hall, Al Edwani Hall, the Discovery Center and the Avenues Mall. About 130 artistes and artisans from different parts of India participated in the festival.

The performing arts events included a flute recital by Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia,santoor recital by Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, flute recital by Dr Rajendra Prasanna, tabla recital by Rimpa Siva, odissi dances by Ranjana Gauhar and her troupe, besides performances by exponents of a wide variety of other Indian classical and folk dance styles. Seven dance troups, displayed their dance styles. They were the Manipuri Raas and Phung Chotam from Manipur, Oppana bridal dance from Kerala, festival warrior dances from Nagaland, Dandia and Garba from Gujarat, Chhau from West Bengal, Gidda and Bhangra from Punjab and Odissi from Orissa.
Visual arts on display included an exhibition of Arabic calligraphy and Indian Muslim religious posters and calendar art brought from the famous Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad at the Grand Mosque. An exhibition of Indian woven textiles including Vanarasi and Kanjeevaram silk saree's, traditional shawls from Kutch, Madhubani painting from Bihar at Al Sadhu house, traditional puppet show ,exhibition of traditional Indian dolls and live demonstration of Henna application was held at Discovery Centre, and an exhibition of photographs of Mumbai through the ages was held at Al Fanoon Hall and Al Edwani Hall.

The exhibitions had free entry but entrance to events at Keifan auditorium was by invitation only. What was pleasing was to see large number of Kuwaitis attending the exhibitions and enjoying it.The aim of the festival was to further enrich and boost the close partnership and the strong traditional bonds of friendship that so happily unite the two countries and its peoples. It also aimed at enhancing interest among Kuwaitis to visit different parts of India.

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Sunanda K Baruah's picture

Great to see your writing again....do keep on posting such pieces of writing...its informative as well as well written..
anusmita BARUAH's picture

Great to read your writings. Do drop a line sometimes. How is the baby?

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