New Delhi: ‘Ras Banaras – Swachhagrah – Bapu ko Kaaryaanjali’, a diversified cultural festival organized by the Ministry of Culture at Maan Mandir and Assi Ghat of Varanasi concluded successfully yesterday evening. The festival witnessed folk dance and songs, food & shopping delights in full swing. The event appealingly connected country’s youth to various facets of the country’s rich and vibrant culture alongside giving a message of cleanliness to the people of Varansi. School-children affiliated to MoC steered The Swachhta drive through exhibitions, songs, puppetry, nukkad nataks and folk dances.
Present on the second day of the festival, the Minister of State for Culture (Independent Charge) and Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr. Mahesh Sharma said “Our Hon’ble Prime Minister has made the country to realize Gandhiji’s dream of clean India. We all have to bring change similar in scale to India’s freedom movement; and have to take action for creating a culture of Cleanliness.” Speaking on Culture ministry’s efforts to spread awareness on cleanliness, the Minister said, “Varanasi has undergone a sea change in maintaining cleanliness in the past 3 years. People have become more aware about cleanliness. Cultural platforms and Sanskriti Mahotsavs, like this, are an effective means to further spread the message of cleanliness among people.” He urged the audience present there to strive for a plastic free Varanasi to further conserve River Ganga.
The second day of the Mahotsav covered a profusion of art forms from classical, folk music, dance and visual arts – Malini Awasthi performed thumri while Classical Singer Shruti Sadolikar mesmerized the audience with a classical song, in the dance segment, Vishal Krishna and troupe gave performance of Kathhak at Manmandir Ghat.
The 2 day event witnessed an unparalleled shopping journey experienced by the people of Varanasi in the Craft Market organized by NCZCC on Assi Ghat, which included a melange of colourful and traditional handicraft and textiles from Varanasi and other parts of the country. The bazaar included the folk performances by folk singers and dancers from different states with a special focus on Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, the states paired with Uttar Pradesh under the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat matrix. A small food corner was also set to bring out the aroma of Varanasi and tribal cuisine from Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. Art connoisseurs got the chance to interact with the artisans and a live demonstration was given.
The Mahotsav showcased a curtain raiser exhibition on Varanasi curated by the National Archives at Man Mandir Ghat while a painting and terracotta-sculpture workshops was conducted with the students of Interpretation Centres by National Gallery of Modern Art in partnership with the Fine Arts School of BHU.
Shri Saurabh Srivastav, MLA, Varanasi Cantt. and Shri Raghvendra Singh, Secretary (Culture) were also present on the occasion.
The 2-day event focused on music and dance performances on the theme of ‘Swachhagraha’ presented under the rubric of ‘Swachhagraha: Bapu ko Karyanjali’.
