NewZNew (Chandigarh) : The 7th annual Chandigarh National Crafts Mela at Kalagram, Chandigarh is being organised from Friday, January 22, 2016 to Sunday, January 31, 2016. It is a joint venture of the North Zone Cultural Centre (Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India) and Chandigarh Administration.
His Excellency the Governor of Punjab and Haryana and Administrator, U.T. Chandigarh & Chairman, NZCC, Prof. Kaptan Singh Solanki has consented to inaugurate the Mela on Friday, January 22, 2016 at 5.30 pm at Kalagram.
The THEME of the Mela is ‘North to North East (Kashmir to Kohima)’. The special focus will be on showcasing folk traditions, arts and crafts of the North to North East regions of India apart from rest of the country. NZCC has invited acclaimed handloom/ handicraft artisans which include Shilpa Gurus, National Awardees, Sant Kabir Awardees and Tribal crafts persons especially selected by Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED), Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India from various parts of the country.
The main objectives of organising this National level annual Mela are as follows :
To showcase Indian handicrafts, handlooms, folk traditions include authentic fragrances and flavours of rich Indian cuisines, folk music, folk instruments and folk dances of India. |
To provide a platform to the crafts persons and to set up an environment where rural crafts traditions could be displayed. |
Acclaimed craftspersons from the constituent states of North Zone Cultural Centre as well as from other six Zonal Cultural Centres to be invited to display their crafts. |
To provide an opportunity to the travellers from various parts of the country as well as foreigners to have a feel of Indian traditional rural ambiance. |
NZCC’s Kalagram is a 14 acre vast complex offering many facilities and attractions like Open Air Theatre, Sculpture Park, permanent food court offering rich Indian cuisines etc. etc. The six editions of ‘Chandigarh National Crafts Mela’ held at Kalagram, Manimajra, Chandigarh during the years 2009 to 2014 were a huge success which attracted several lacs of visitors and many craftspersons often ran out of their stocks not once but twice or thrice during the short span of 9-10 days of each edition of Mela.
NZCC has constructed ethnic stalls made from bamboos/ballies etc. for the forthcoming ‘7th Chandigarh National Crafts Mela’ for craftspersons to display their creations. 10 stalls have been earmarked for Chandigarh for which U.T. Administration is selecting the best craftspersons.
Rangoli and Folk Painters’ Camp by renowned artists will be an attraction of this Mela. The youth especially the students will get an opportunity to know about the rich cultural heritage of our country.
Celebrated artists will perform daily in the evening at main stage during the Mela (list attached).
NZCC has created ambiance as per the theme of the Crafts Mela and huts/stalls have been raised to enable acclaimed craftsmen to showcase finest specimens of handcrafts and handlooms. There is a specially designed entry gate.
Besides showcasing art and crafts of the country during the forthcoming ten days National Crafts Mela, spectacular cultural programmes by the professionals of the country will be organised every evening with emphasis on folk music, folk instruments and folk dances from all regions of the country with special focus on North to North East India. Besides this there will be day long performances by renowned folk artistes. NZCC has invited approx. 300 folk dancers, folk instrumentalists and folk singers from all over the country.
This mega event showcasing crafts of the country and spectacular cultural presentations will provide a grand opportunity for the public in general and youth and students in particular to know about the rich cultural heritage of our composite culture.
The website and the online ticket booking facility was inaugurated today by the Sh. Anurag Aggarwal, IAS, Home Secretary , Chandigarh Administration. With the launch of this facility now citizens can easily book tickets with the click of the button while sitting at home or anywhere without visiting ticket counter. Department of Information Technology played a vital role in launching this facility of online ticket booking at website which will be introduced for the first time in any event organized by Chandigarh Administration. Website and online payment gateway has been developed in-house by SPIC and online payment for ticketing service is provide in association with PNB through their payment aggregator PayU.
This facility will offers a range of payment options like; Net banking, Debit card & Credit card of any bank through which a payment can be made by the citizens for booking their craft mela 2016 ticket. Craft mela 2016 webiste is live and now residents can visit website at www.chddca.org and citizens can easily book ticket online with three simple steps:
- Visit www.chddca.org and click button “ buy Ticket ” or “book online Ticket ” on the home page.
- Fill the form with personal details and on submitting the form select the mode of payment i.e. net banking , debit/credit card and make the payment.
- On successful completion of transaction citizen will get a confirmation of payment via sms through sampark sms gateway and can also download ticket by clicking download ticket button and citizen.