Colourful performances mark World Tourism Day
To mark World Tourism Day and to celebrate the completion of 50 years of Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department, a three-day carnival was inaugurated at Gomti Riverfront on Monday.
On the occasion, chief minister Yogi Adityanath released a book on traditional food of Uttar Pradesh. He also felicitated 10 people from UP for their outstanding contribution in the promotion of tourism. Two tourist buses were flagged off and a short film on Varanasi documented by Discovery Channel was released along with the launch of an application of the UP Tourism.
The inauguration day programme started with a kathak ballet by performers from UP Sangeet Natak Academy along with an Awadhi classical dance by Nidhi Srivastava followed by an hour long song presentation. Later, a flute and a drum fusion act by Tanmay and Digant Saikia were also staged.
The song recital was mix of classical and folk songs that was presented by Padma Shri Malini Awasthi and group. The celebrated artiste started the performance with a Devi geet followed by a number of folk songs from different regions of UP including Ayodhya, Mathura, Bundelkhand and eventually culminating the recital with a Kabir bhajan. Supporting her on musical instruments was Dharamnath Mishra on harmonium, tabla by Ratnesh Mishra while Rakesh Arya strummed the guitar and Sachin played the keyboard.
Speaking about the event Awasthi said, “It has been long since we all artistes got an opportunity to come together on stage and perform and what better than the occasion of World Tourism Day where we got an opportunity to take people on a musical folk trip through our music and songs.”
A number of cultural events are being organised across the state. Discussions and talk meets on how to develop tourism in UP are also being held during the three-day celebrations.