The Uttar Pradesh government in collaboration with Arunachal Pradesh will organize a week-long Gangati Bhagidari Utsav from November 13 to 18 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of tribal activist Birsa Munda, by holding special exhibitions of tribal textiles, art, food, dance and culture from 18 states.
Besides the main program in Lucknow, special celebrations have also been planned in UP’s Sonbhadra district which will be attended virtually by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 15. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will attend the event.
The celebrations are being organized by the UP Tourism and Social Welfare Department under the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat initiative with Arunachal Pradesh as the partner state.
Birsa Munda hails from present-day Jharkhand.
“Birsa Munda is worshiped as a divine figure among the tribal communities and to honor his contribution, the Central government has declared his birth anniversary as ‘Janajatiya Gaurav Diwas’ in 2022. The festival this time is an initiative to revive the idea of ​​’Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ through cultural unity of our tribal communities,” UP Tourism Minister Jaiveer Singh said.
State Social Welfare Minister Asim Arun said tribal languages ​​and lifestyle strengthen the foundations of India’s unity and hence the event will not only honor their heritage but also promote their economic self-reliance and preservation of their culture.
The six-day festival in Lucknow will see participation of folk artists and artisans as well as those serving tribal cuisine, said Atul Dwivedi, director, Institute of Folk and Tribal Culture, which is coordinating the event.
The Sonbhadra event will see the participation of around 20,000 tribals from various parts of the country.
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“Apart from creating awareness about the contributions of Birsa Munda, we are planning to hold an exhibition of tribal art, dance, paintings, textiles as well as cuisine. If everything goes as planned, visitors will be able to see a large collection of traditional face masks used by tribal communities in different parts of the country,” Dwivedi said.
(Tags for translation)Birsa Munda
