NEW DELHI: Visitors coming to India Gate lawns on weekends can enthrall themselves with dance performances, musical shows, plays and painting exhibitions as the Culture Ministry has decided to organise cultural events on every Saturday and Sunday on the recently redeveloped ceremonial Avenue renamed as Kartavya Path.
The ministry has tied up with cultural bodies such as Sangeet Natak Akademi and National School of Drama for the initiative named ‘Kalanjali’. Officials, aware of the matter, said that the series of events will continue till August 2023; culmination of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM), commemoration and celebrations of 75 years of India’s independence.
“As part of AKAM, the ministry has planned to hold regular events at Kartavya Path for visitors or tourists every weekend to enthral them. Mainly the autonomous bodies of the ministry have been requested to plan theme based programmes. The idea is to tell citizens about the rich heritage and culture of India, which has generally not been talked about,” said officials.
All the events planned at India Gate are open to all. This weekend, three events — street play by the National School of Drama (NSD), musical band performances by the Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA), and ‘Portrait Painting’ by the Lalit Kala Akademi (LKA) were held.
The play by the NSD aimed to educate the audience on a variety of topics such as online fraud, security measures, and legal provisions. Noted ‘Been’ (Pungi) player Ramvir Nath Jogi performed with the team. The event was organised by the SNA.
“It is worth noting that playing the Been is a type of music that has been practiced since ancient times. It is known by many names in India, including ‘Tumbi’, ‘Nagasar’, ‘Sapera Bansuri’, ‘Nagaswaram’, and ‘Mahudi’, and lute players are known as ‘Been Jogi’. Another performance was led by Mridangam artist P Vetri Boopathy and his team ‘Rudraksham’. The ministry has frequently organised programmes commemorating Mahatma Gandhi, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, and Raja Ram Mohan Roy at India Gate. They are linked to many social issues and topics ranging from great freedom fighters such as Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose to women empowerment and cyber crime. All visitors are welcome to attend these events for free and witness the emerging picture of new India,” said officials.
Demo of Indian culture