Gunjan Festival celebrates folk culture at Dadasiba college

To preserve and promote folk cultural traditions and folk arts, Sabhyacharak Rang Manch (SRM), a cultural organisation of the state, organised the Gunjan Festival on Thursday at Baba Kanshi Ram Government College, Dadasiba, in Kangra district. Former vice-chairman of the State Workers Welfare Board, Surinder Mankotia, inaugurated the festival by lighting the traditional lamp.

Students of the college, guided by SRM, presented Pahari and Punjabi folk dances that captivated the audience. The lively performances prompted the young crowd to join in, dancing along to the traditional rhythms.

Presiding over the festival, Mankotia said involving students in such folk events would help preserve and promote folk literature. “It is the moral responsibility of all of us to try to take our rich folk culture from the village to the world stage. It is imperative to save the ancient culture which is becoming extinct,” he said. He stressed the need for effective, result-oriented steps to protect cultural heritage and urged youth to embrace culture alongside science by staying connected to folk traditions and customs.

The college principal, Prof Jatindra Kumar, said the preservation and promotion of folk culture were essential, as they sustained identity, values and traditions while strengthening social unity. “If it is not preserved, it may disappear due to modernity and commercialisation, which will cause huge loss to our cultural heritage,” he said. He added while the government and various organisations were working in this direction, meaningful progress required public participation and collective effort.