Punjab Post Daily Online Newspaper & Print Media
New Delhi, November 15 (Punjab Post Bureau)- The Union HRD Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar inaugurated ‘Kala Utsav’-2016 in New Delhi today. The Union Minister congratulated all participants of Kala Utsav and said that each child has a unique talent; Kala Utsav helps to discover such a special talent inherent in children. The Union Minister also specially congratulated 138 ‘Divyang’ students competing at ‘Kala Utsav’, calling it as truly inspiring; he said that these students prove that, no physical disability can deter anyone from developing oneself. He reiterated government’s commitment for betterment of Divyang students through ‘Sugamya Bharat’. The Union Minister also applauded students of J&K who have given a befitting reply to terrorism by registering 95% presence for examination of Class XII and further emphasized that education is the best instrument of development. Union Minister called Kala Utsav as a celebration of art and cultural diversity, is a learning experience that is beyond classroom teaching. It provides platform for students to interact across the different States/UTs of the country & provides an opportunity to understand each other’s values, ethos in such manner as enriches one’s personality. This unity in diversity is an expression of strength of our nation. The Union Minister also released collection of CDs containing award winning performances of last year.
Shri Upendra Kushwaha, Minister of State Ministry of HRD, termed Kala Utsav as initiative that preserves Art and Culture by rejuvenating and rediscovering different Art-forms and living traditions across the country. This will not only provide platform for children but through Art and Culture will strengthen the cause of Nation Building. Kala Utsav is structured as an art festival which has commenced from the district and state level in all the four art forms. The four day long festival will witness an assembly of all state level winners who will compete with each other at the national level and who will be judged by distinguished artistes from the art fraternity.
Handpicked forms of Indian indigenous art forms like Morullo Dance from Goa, Kutchi folk Dance from Gujarat, Bhawaiya from West Bengal, Dogri folk songs (Geetdu) from Jammu and Kashmir along with traditional theatre and visual art forms will be presented on this platform by the 37 participating teams (35 State teams and 1 team each from KVS and NVS). Along with a competitive spirit, Kala Utsav also promotes a network art, artisans and students through the concept of online projects. The dedicated Kala Utsav Channel on YouTube has over 147 online projects prepared by the participating teams based on research and documentation while meeting local artists and artisans associated with the art forms. Prominent names like Pt. Vidhyadhar Vyas, Shri Niranjan Goswami, Shri Parvej Akhtar are also a part of this initiative to judge the budding talents from all across the nation.
Kala Utsav has been initiated as an annual art festival for the students of secondary and higher secondary levels by Ministry of Human Resource Development in 2015. Students of government schools from all across the country joined hands to manifest the splendor of India’s cultural diversity in its pioneering year itself. Kala Utsav 2016 will include competitions in four art forms—Dance, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts. The festival will conclude with felicitation ceremony of prize winners of Kala Utsav 2016 at the Siri Fort Auditorium on 18th November.
