Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav: Everything you need to know about 7-day annual cultural event

Dance, music, drama, entertainment and food will be part of the first Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav that will be celebrated in Delhi for a week starting Sunday, to promote, preserve and popularise India's rich heritage.

"The thought was to create an Annual Festival that popularizes and showcases the cultural diversity of India be it art, artisans, dance, handicrafts or flavours from cross the nation. The seven day festival will attempt to recreate the vibrant culture and its diversity," said Secretary at Ministry of Culture NK Sinha.

"Seven zonal councils are sending over 700 artists who will be presenting 49 art forms during the festival which will showcase how culturally rich and vibrant the country is," PTI reported. The seven Zonal Cultural Centres are Patiala, Udaipur, Thanjavur, Kolkata, Nagpur, Dimapur and Allahabad.

Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) will host the seven-day event from 10 am to 10 pm during which more than 150 art forms will be on display and 1,500 artists from across the country will perform every evening.

Artists like Gurdas Maan, Sharda Sinha, Roopkumar Rathod, Sonali Rathod, Toufiq Qureshi, Malini Awasthi and Pandit Sandeep Mahavir will be part of India's first national cultural event being organised by the Ministry of Culture.

The art forms such as Dhal Talwar Raas (dance using real swords and shields) from Udaipur, Dollu Kunitha (musical dance form) from Karnataka, Lai Haroba (traditional dance to please the god) from Manipur, Ghoomar (traditional folk dance form of Rajasthan), Godambaza (Tribal dance from MP) and Rikampana from Arunachal will revive the ancient culture of the nation.

An event can never be complete without food

Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav will also have different Indian cuisines prepared by "traditional masterchefs" of different states. The menu for the seven-day event includes Kashmiri Wazwan, Amritsari Kulcha and Makki Roti from Punjab, Litti Chokha, Malai Makhan, Bhakar, Akki Roti and authentic Hyderabad Biryani.

The vistors of the event can purchase a memento of their visit as crafts like Haveli paintings from Punjab, Rogan artworks from Gujarat, Banaras silk, Kalamkari (hand-painted or block-printed cotton textile) and Tanjore paintings and many other things will be out for sale.

Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsava will be an annual event featuring traditional artisans and artists, and 14 premier organisations have agreed to participate in this year's event for the growth of Indian Art and culture.

Buddhist and Tibetan Institutes of India, National School of Drama, Sahitya Akademi, Lalit Kala Akademi, Sangeet Natak Akademi and Kalakshetra Foundation will also take part to present the art, culture and heritage of the nation during the event that ends on 7 November.