Saturday 19 / October / 2024
Muscat: For the first time, a five month-long ‘Festival of India’ is scheduled to take place in four major cities of Oman.
The festival which begins on November 15, will go on until March 2017, in Muscat, Sur, Sohar and Salalah, Indian Embassy officials announced on Monday.
The Indian Embassy, with the support of Ministry of Culture, Government of India, will bring Indian artistes for the event.
The festival will comprise Indian ballet and folk dances, Indian instrumental music, an exhibition of Indian calligraphy, a food festival and a fashion show.
The inaugural event will be organised at Al Bustan Palace Hotel.
“The festival is being organised with a view to present to the people of Oman glimpses of Indian culture, representing diverse traditions of Indian heritage,” Indra Mani Pandey, ambassador of India to the Sultanate of Oman said.
According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the number of Indians in Oman was pegged at 695,251 in October 2016.
The tentative schedule for the festival is as follows:
(I) Indian Ballet Dance (Hritaal Troupe from Kolkata), November 15 to 19, 2016.
(II) Islamic Calligraphy Exhibition, (Rampur Raza Library), November 21 to December 3, 2016.
(III) Indian Instrumental Music (Padmashree Dr Soma Ghosh), January 24 to 28, 2017.
(IV) India Folk Dance and music from Jammu & Kashmir, (North Zone Cultural Centre) February 10 to 14, 2017.
(V) Indian Food Festival, ITDC at Grand Hyatt, March 2017.
(VI) Indian Traditional Fashion Show, National Institute of Fashion and Technology, March 2017.
