Art & lit fest begins at Punjab Kala Bhawan

Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, February 2

The much-awaited annual edition of Dr MS Randhawa Art and Literature Festival, organised by Punjab Arts council (PAC), began at Punjab Kala Bhawan today.

Inaugurating the festival, Punjab Culture Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who was also the chief guest, observed that the PAC with its subsidiary academies, led by noted poet Dr Surjit Patar, has come up as a centre of multidimensional excellence for promoting Punjab’s cultural heritage.

He said that a session in Punjab Vidhan Sabha will be dedicated to Punjabi language and culture.

The minister presented Punjab Gaurav Sanman to five litterateurs and artists for their contribution in respective fields. The awardees include Gurbachan Singh Bhullar, Ajit Kaur, Mohan Bhandari Devinder Daman and Dr Kanwarjit Singh Kang. The award carries a citation, “phulakari” and cash prize of one lakh rupees.

Veteran ghazal maestro Gurdeep Singh regaled the audience with soulful rendition of ghazals by Surjit Patar, Ashraf Sharfi, Sukhwinder Amrit and others. He won ovation for his hit number ‘Ishq aakhda hai tera kakh rehan ni dena’.

Play ‘Shri Ram Bijoy’ staged at Navrang Theatre

Artistes of Dr Bhupen Hazarika Centre for Studies in Performing Arts, Dibrugarh University, Assam, staged an old classic play ‘Shri Ram Bijoy’ in old Assamese language ‘Brajawaili’ on the fifth day of the ongoing TFT Winter National Theatre festival at Navrang Theatre today. Written by Srimanta Sankaradeva and directed by Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee Haricharan Bhuyan Barbayan, the play eloquently depicted the story of Lord Rama and Laksmana’s fights against Tadaka and other demons.

Earlier, as a part of the fest, a “Ru Ba Ru” session was held with Sahitya Akademi Awardee Prof Kirpal Kazak.