Teej festivities to display rural Punjab
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, August 1
Hero Cycles is all set to usher in the Teej festival at OP Munjal Rakh Bagh on August 5. Teeyan, the Punjabi name for the festival of Teej, is among the most celebrated festivals across India, especially Punjab.
Celebrated in the month of August by girls and women, the festivity continues for the entire month of ‘Saavan’. People enjoy giddha and folk songs and girls wear Punjabi suits and traditional jewellery. However, with the rapid urbanisation, this festival has been slowly dying in urban Punjab. Today, Teej is considered mostly as a rural festival which needs a fresh resurgence.
OP Munjal Rakh Bagh has been playing a pivotal role in bringing back the old culture of Punjab through myriad cultural activities for the people of Ludhiana.
“These festivities were started two years ago and OP Munjal Rakh Bagh proposes to make it a perpetual part of its mandate every year. The OP Munjal Rakh Bagh Foundation has realised that the best way of inculcating the rural and ancient culture of Punjab among the people is through cultural programmes organised by local schools. This will showcase our lost traditions and make way for great bonding and fellow feeling across a wide spectrum of people,” says SK Rai, Vice-Chairman, Hero Cycles, during a press conference here today.
Going by the stupendous success of the last two years, the programme, this year, is being planned on a much larger scale as 32 schools are participating in the cultural extravaganza. The programme will display the culture of rural Punjab in full swing to revive the memories of urban Ludhianvies.
Mehandi competition, fancy dress competition, Teej queen contest, folk dance, nukkad natak and battle of band competition will be included in the programme.
With the Dr Brijmohan Lall Munjal Rolling Trophy being instituted last year, which was undoubtedly the major attraction at the 2016 Teej festival, the award went to BCM Shastri Nagar School for its overall best performance in the cultural activities. This year, all eyes would be on Mahatma Satyanand Munjal Rolling Trophy which will be awarded to the overall best government school participating in the cultural programme.
The other festivities at OP Munjal Rakh Bagh in August will be Rakhi celebration on August 8 and Independence Day celebration by the Ex-servicemen League, Ludhiana, on August 15. Free train rides will be given to schoolchildren and senior citizens on this memorable occasion.
