Five-day Lok Utsav festival kicks off on a vibrant note in Gurdaspur

Ravi Dhaliwal

Dinanagar (Gurdaspur), Nov 1

As many as 150 folk dancers from all over the country held the 500 strong audience in a thrall by their imposing and inspiring performances as the five-day All-India Lok Utsav festival — an extravaganza of traditional folk dances of several Indian states—commenced here at local SSM College.

The festivities are being organised by Punjab Folk Arts Centre (PFAC) in collaboration with the North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC.) The long awaited event is being financed by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal lit the inaugural lamp. PFAC Director Harmanpreet Singh said that the event is primarily aimed at telling the youth “from where they have come, and where they are going.”

DC Aggarwal in his address said, “Dance is the hidden language of the soul. A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and souls of its people. We should pay proper emphasis on cultural activities which, in turn, will ensure that a state and a nation’s culture is preserved for coming generations. To watch artistes dance is to hear their hearts speak. Over the next five days let the hearts of these young artistes speak sans any hindrance or barriers.”

The hosts boys performed Punjab’s traditional dance, bhangra, which was applauded by the audience. The spotlight was on dancers of Assam who performed the famous Bardoi Sikhla folk dance.

“It is an action filled dance. Sometimes, girls even dance over burning embers,” said a performer. The Chari dance of Rajasthan also received a decent applause.

“Chari is a ritualistic dance that primarily belongs to the Saini community of Ajmer and the Gujjar community of Kishangarh. Enacted by women, it is usually performed on special occasions, such as the birth of a male child, marriage or festival. It symbolises joy as well as represents the ritual of collecting water in Chari which in Rajasthani language means a pot. The women are attired in traditional outfit and dance while balancing brass Charis on their heads, along with a lighted lamp in it. The dance is accompanied by sounds of dholak and harmonium,” said Harmanpreet Singh.

Girls from Assam held the audience captive with their enthralling performance of their time-honoured dance Bihu. “We do not dance to impress, we dance just to meet ourselves,” said performer Rupali Phangshu.