Festival of India in Peru

Inauguration of the “Festival of India-2013”, at Sala Inca Auditorium, Lima in Peru 

Indian cultural festival in Peru was formally announced on Friday with the India-Peru Literature Festival. This Gala Indian Cultural Festival also coincides with the visit of the Vice President of India Shri Hamid Ansari, who would be undertaking the highest ranking bilateral visit since year 1998 from India to Peru. The Festival would manifest many elements of long, rich and diverse Indian cultural heritage and would be the largest Indian cultural festival ever held in Latin America and the Caribbean. This reflects the special place that Peru enjoys among Indians. 

The Festival features: 

• Indian classical dance festival 
• Indian Film Festival
• Indian Literary Festival 

Highly reputed Indian writers namely Shri Arun Kamal, Shri H.S.Shivaprakash, Shri K. Satchidanandan, Shri Purshottam Agarwal, Shri Shyama Prasad Ganguly and Smt. Karabi Deka Hazarika participated in the symposium on India-Latin America: Literary Exchanges and Influences and Contemporary Literary Trends and their Challenges in a Multilingual Society in addition to a session on poetry reading. Several noted Peruvian Writers including Mr. Jose Leon Herrera, Mr. Pablo Carreno Cabrejos, Mr. Jose Ignacio Lopez Gaston, Mr. Marcel Velaquez Castro and leading poets, Mr. Carlos German Belli, Mr. Mario Montalbetti and Mr. Marcos Martos would be participating in the Literature Festival. The Literature Festival is being coordinated by the Sahitya Academy. 

The Indian Dance Festival in Peru is titled Nrityarupa, the mosaic of Indian dance which encapsulates the experience of Indian dance as it has evolved in various parts of the India. In so doing, it offers a glimpse of the great mosaic of cultures that constitutes the Indian Nation, and demonstrates in a creative, kinetic form their dynamics in relation to each other. Six dance forms representing the diversity of India’s culture have been chosed for this presentation to audiences in Latin America: Bharatanatyam of Tamil Nadu, Kathank, pre-eminently the dance of northern India; Odissi, from Odisha in eastern India; Manipuri from north-eastern State of India; Kathakali of Kerala at Southern tip of the Indian peninsula; and Chau which covers a wide swathe of territory in eastern States of the Union. One seamless presentation of these dances has been visualized leading to a jubiliant finish. The Indian Dance Festival is being coordinated by the Sangeet Natak Academy. 

The Indian Film Festival would feature old and new Indian films and classics. The Indian Films being screened include Raja Harishchandra (mute), Taare Zameen Par (Hindi), Ghare Bhaire (Bengali), Ardh Satya (Hindi), Bobby (Hindi) , A Wednesday (Hindi) and Kahbi Haan Kabhi Naa (Hindi). The Indian Film Festival is being coordinated by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. 

The Festival of India was formally inaugurated by the Vice President of India Shri Hamid Ansari. The inaugural function was attended by the Peruvian First Vice President Mrs. Marisol Espinoza and a number of senior dignitaries from the Indian and Peruvian side. 

The Festival of India in Peru is being coordinated by the Ministry of Culture in association with the Sahitya Academy, the Sangeet Natak Academy and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The Indian Culture Secretary Shri Ravindra Singh who is in Peru to mark the occasion said that the Festival is expected to bring the Indian and Peruvian people closer to each other and will enhance people to people contact. 

Courtesy: Press Information Bureau (pib.nic.in)