Lifeline of Delhi's cultural fabric Yogeshwar Dayal dead

New Delhi, Sep 9 (UNI) Yogeshwar Dayal, who revived the inter-faith cultural festival of Delhi, passed away here last night.

He was 93.

Best known for starting the Phool Walon Ki Sair, a cultural procession from Mehrauli's Jogmaya Mandir to the dargah of Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki aimed at interfaith harmony, in 1961, Dayal revived classical dance and music in Delhi through Sangeet Bharti. It was he who introduced kathak to Delhiites in the late 1930s.

A connoisseur of history, Dayal organised many lectures, inviting luminaries like the first President of India Rajender Prasad, India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Azad and others.

He invited Mahatma Gandhi to Hindu college while he headed the students' wing of the literary society there.

In a condolence meeting, chairman of the friends for education Firoz Bakht Ahmed said Delhi had lost a great son in Yogeshwar Dayal, the lifeline of the cultural and literary fabric of Delhi.

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