CELEBRATING INDIA IN THAILAND
The “Festival Of India” in Thailand will celebrate the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. “The festival will act as a refresher to the people of Thailand, especially the new generation, of our age-old friendship,” said Indian Ambassador Bhagwant Bishnoi.
The festival will begin next month and continue till January, starting with a vibrant classical dance-drama on Sept 2 at Sala Chalermkrung Theatre.
Called Sri Krishna, the performance narrates the story of god Krishna, well-known for his pranks as a child and adult. It will be performed by the Sri Bharatakala Dance Academy in Bharatanatyam style, a classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu, with a live orchestra. A second show will be performed in Kanchanaburi on Sept 3 at the Sala 60 Pansa Maharaj Hall.
The Indian dance programme will be the first performance of the annual International Dance Festival of the Friends of the Arts Foundation, held in November.
In September and October, a sumptuous spate of food festivals from different states of India will be organised. There will be an Uttar Pradesh Food Festival (from Lucknow and Varanasi) at the Rembrandt Hotel, which will then travel to Phuket and Krabi. The Northeast Indian Food Festival (from Shillong and Manipur) will be held at the Shangri-La Hotel.
The Punjabi Food Festival will take place at Maya at the Holiday Inn Sukhumvit, as well at the Royal Cliff Hotel Pattaya.
A talk and exhibition on ayurveda will be held at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center on Sept 23-24, with the sale of ayurvedic products.
Moving on towards the scholastic activities, the festival will include a few linguistic seminars. “The Influence Of Sanskrit And Pali On Souteast Asian Languages, With Special Emphasis On Thai” will be held at Chulalongkorn University on Sept 25.
On Nov 18, the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre will host “Thai Language In India”, which will feature the Tai ethnic community in India, who live in the Northeast, like Assam. Their ancestors are believed to be from Thailand and they speak a dialect of Thai called Tai.
The most important artist to perform during the festival in November will be world-famous violinist L Subramaniam. He will perform at the Thailand Cultural Centre on Nov 4. Subramaniam, who’s based in the US, is noted for his mastery of classical Indian, Western and fusion rhythms. He composed music for the film
Salaam Bombay and performed for Bernardo Bertolucci’s Little Buddha.
An exhibition featuring some of the top contemporary Indian artists will be held at the BACC from Sept 15 to Oct 1. The theme is “India At 70” and is curated by Gargi Sethi. Among the artists whose works will be on display are Anajolie Ela Menon and Jatin Das.
There will be a special acrobatic display by the Indian Air Force’s Sarang Helicopter Team in November. The venue has yet to be announced.
In December, look out for “Buddhist Imagery From Bharata To Suvarnabhum”, a Buddhist sculpture exhibition with more than 70 images of the Buddha from Thailand and India, at the National Museum. The rarely seen Indian sculptures have been loaned by Delhi’s National Museum.
Several yoga and Bollywood workshops will take place at Benjasiri Park, from November to January.