First-ever Festival of India in Oman concludes

The Indian Food Festival in Oman, currently underway at Grand Hyatt, was inaugurated last week in the presence of Salim bin Mohammed bin Said al Mahrooqi, Under-Secretary for Heritage, Ministry of Heritage and Culture. The opening ceremony was also attended by Nasser Mohammed bin Khaleefa al Busaidi, Chief of Protocol, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Shaikh Hilal bin Marhoon al Mamari, Chief of West Asia Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Saif bin Mohammed al Ruzaiqi, Adviser at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The Food Festival will conclude on March 19. The inauguration of Indian Food Festival also marked the conclusion of the first-ever Festival of India in Oman, which started four months ago and received good response.

As per the statement from the Indian Embassy, The Indian Food Festival is the ultimate event under the Festival of India. Given the historical contacts between India and Oman, leading to intermingling of various cultural, including culinary, traditions of the two countries and presence of hundreds of Indian restaurants in Muscat and other cities of Oman, both the people of Oman and the expatriate community in Oman are familiar with various facets of Indian cuisine. The Indian Food Festival in Muscat is, therefore, to delight the people of Muscat with some lesser- known culinary traditions of India like Kashmiri, Bengali, Rajasthani, Gujarati cuisines. Thus, Indian Food Festival in Muscat provides food connoisseurs with an opportunity to enjoy those Indian cuisines which are not readily available in Muscat.

As part of the Festival of India, an Indian Calligraphy Exhibition was organised in Promenade of Oman Avenues Mall, Muscat. The exhibition, which was inaugurated on November 21, showcased India’s Islamic calligraphy traditions and highlighted its contribution to development of the composite and diverse culture of India. The Calligraphy Exhibition will be again on display at the gallery of Omani Society of Fine Arts Society on March 21-25 from 9 am to 1.30 pm and 4.30 pm to 8 pm.

Over 40 pieces of calligraphic work, artistically inscribed with selected verses from the Holy Quran, will be showcased at the exhibition.