Recently,I visited a cultural exhibition in my hometown.It was organized by the seven cultural centres of India on the occasion of silver jubilee celebrations.It was a treat for our eyes to see rich and diverse Indian cultures all under one roof. Many craftsmen and national award winning artists from all over the country had come to show their skills. The event was held in a grand manner and on a big platform for the first time to encourage and promote the arts and crafts of all the Indian states. Many traditional art and dance forms have been kept alive by the expert craftsmen and dancers which are on the verge of extinction.
The whole venue was divided into 7 courtyards ,each allotted to a zonal cultural centre. Each courtyard was showcasing their particular art and culture. The outer walls of the courtyards were decorated with the traditional paintings. Inside ,there were various stalls of handicrafts and handlooms.
First ,the eastern cultural zone courtyard was painted with the traditional and beautiful Madhubani art hailing from the state of Bihar. The Madhubani painting is usually of Lord Krishna and is surrounded by peacocks. Their style of painting trees is very unique.On the other wall was the scroll painting of the state of Odisha called the Patachitra. Inside, the stalls had beautiful range of the traditional Kantha work sarees.( traditional women wear of India) These sarees are made by a unique stitch called Kantha which runs all over the design of the fabric. The state of Bengal is famous for its Shola wood artifacts. These artifacts are carved out of single log of wood . The unique item was of lamps made of palm leaves. The leaves were artistically cut to make a lovely design and those were attached to cloth to make lamps.Also ,the brass artifacts were very beautiful. It had huge collection of lamps, idols of Lord Ganesh,Lord Krishna etc. and finely made peacocks.
The western cultural centre courtyard was painted with traditional Maandna art of the state of Rajasthan which is a painting done on a dark background with white colour. The Maandna art has very minute detailing and takes a lot of hard work to complete it. This art is adorned on the walls of the houses of Rajasthani people on auspicious occasions of festivals, weddings, pujas, childbirth etc. This art is extremely ancient and today artists are working hard to keep it alive.
On the second wall, the Pichwai painting of Rajasthan was made. Pichwai has decorative elephants and horses made in typical Rajasthani style. The stalls in this zone were of Rajasthani footwear from the city of Udaipur ., block print bedsheets and cushion covers and Bandhej art shawls and sarees. These are all traditional arts of handloom. Also, Rajasthani terracotta lamps,welcome plates,body scrubber were in demand. There was a stall of Gujarat state selling lovely purses and bags made of mirror work and beads. Their wall hangings were also very unique.
The North Central zone courtyard’s entrance was made to look like the fortress of Agra. It had stalls of Banarasi sarees which are very famous and brassware and wood carving work. The main attraction were colourful kites made by a national award winning artist. The kites were in 2000 different shapes and sizes.
The North cultural zone had many stalls of woolen clothes like sweaters,shawls etc. The very famous Pashmina silk shawls from the state of Jammu & Kashmir were in demand. Apart from this, stoles and scarves of Phulkari work from the state of Punjab was also in demand.Phulkari is a type of embroidery made from colourful threads and mirrors.
The South cultural zone courtyard was decorated with Thanjavur and Garudadhri paintings from the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The mural style painting of Kerala was very beautiful. It is made from natural colours which are extracted from plants and herbs. The designs were very intricate and beautiful. The stalls in this courtyard were not of much interest apart from sandalwood and stone craft.
The North Eastern zone courtyard had the artifacts from the states of Nagaland,Assam,Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. The jute bags,picnic baskets ,flower vases from the state of Sikkim were very nice.
The courtyard of South Central zone was decorated with the traditional art of Warli painting. The Warli painting is a tribal art. Like Maandna, these paintings are also made on the walls of the houses or on the floor on special occasions .The stalls were not of much interest here too apart from the traditional Paithani silk sarees of the state of Maharashtra and brassware from Madhya Pradesh.
On the last day of the exhibition ,a dance show was also organized in which artists performed the folk dances from all the states.
This exhibition was a nice blend of rich and diverse cultures of India and was truly worth watching.