Fair, food & more

For the extended weekend running-up to Independence Day, Uttar Pradesh Tourism department has come up Lifestyle and Food Festival at Paryatan Bhawan in Gomti Nagar. Tourism minister Rita Bahugana Joshi inaugurated the festival on Friday.

The lifestyle section has furniture, home décor, apparel, jewellery, designer wear, handicraft and showpiece up for grabs. The artisan have coming from Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Jaipur, Chandigrah and Bhatida.

Under the Chatorigali section they have Azamgarh Handi, Zaheer kitchen, Kakori kebab house, Saudi biryani and Mughlai house, Chinese shacks, Prakash Kulfi, Rattilal, Samosa Junction, Prakash Kulfi, Punjabi chole bhature and Chaat by Hotel Gomti.

The star attraction of the event is Wonder Taj painting by Naveen Sharma, a miniature artist from Jaipur. He has been awarded National Award by former President Pranab Mukherjee. The painting has four lakh human figures, 50,000 Taj Mahal, 250 historical monuments, Mughal emperors and vivid description of their kingdoms. It took Sharma four year to complete the painting which has been done by a single strand of brush.

The artist claims that he has been offered Rs 600 crores from foreign buyers and is looking forward to sell the painting soon. Here he has displayed its copy while the original painting is kept under police protection. “The police department has been directed to protect the painting and where it’s displayed only under police protection,” says Sharma.

PHOTOS: DHEERAJ DHAWAN/HT Minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi having a look at Wonder Taj painting