Pinjore Heritage Festival to begin from Oct 5

Chandigarh, Oct 1 (UNI) The first ever Pinjore Heritage Festival that will project the ancient heritage of the town and the world-famous Yadavindra Gardens in their 17th century grandeur will begin at Pinjore, near here, in Haryana from October 5.

A street bazar, cultural evenings, folk dances and cuisine will mark the five-day long festival which will be organised by the Haryana Tourism corporation with assistance of Union Tourism Ministry and inaugurated by State Governor A R Kidwai, said Minister of State for Tourism Kiran Choudhry at a press conference here today.

A street bazar reminiscent of the Mughal times would be created with shops and clusters of stalls, tented pavilions, food plaza and a performance stage, she said. The enterance gate, parking area as well as the entire gardens would be illumianted in the evenings in a manner which would enhance the pristine beauty of these gardens by highlighting its architecural, aesthetic and landscape splendor.

Cultural evenings would be hosted on all five days of the festival in which the most gifted artistes will regale the audience by showcasing their talent in their inimitable style, she added.

Some of the big names to participate in the festival include Bharatnatyam dancer Pratibha Prahlad, Classical vocal singer Begum Parween Sultana, Dance Ballet group of Daksha Sheth, Jagjit Singh and a Concert by Pop group Euphoria.

''Bhangra'', ''Gidha'', folk dances, ''Quawalies'' and ''Siddigoma'' of Gujarat, are also being orgnised for attracting of tourists.

A variety of cuisine will be the hall mark of the food bazar being put up in the heritage festival. These will contain both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes like Amritsar's ''Tandoori Kulchey Choley'', Jaipur's ''Dal Bhatti Churma'', Lucknow's ''Jummy Kababs'', Jamamasjid's ''Biryani'', Nanchandi's ''Halwa Prantha'', Gohana's famour ''Jaleba'' Bikaner's ''Kulfi'', Patiala's ''Cream Murg'' and Ambala's tongue tingling ''Chaat'' etc.

The festival will remain open from 1100 hours to 2200 hours and transport authorities have been requested to make arrangements for plying buses on Chandigarh-Pinjore route upto 2300 hours.

Mrs Choudhry said Defence Minister Pranab Mukerjee, Minister of State for Personnel Suresh Pachouri and Minister of State for Steel Akhilesh Das are likely to attend the festival. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has been also invited to attend the festival.

She said a Sufi festival is being planned to be organised at Kurukshetra in the near future.

UNI VKJ YA BD1548