September 12, 2009 : Smt. Prabha Rau, Governor of Himachal Pradesh said that Indian culture exhibits a great blend of various cultures, which are very unique, and has a value of its own. She said that we have witnessed various civilizations but today they exist only in the papers, whereas the Indian culture is based on concept of truth and non-violence, which teaches us to respect all the religions. She stressed the need to preserve the rich cultural heritage of the country. She was speaking on the inaugural function of 13th All India Women Folk Dance Competition and Carnival organized by Department of Language, Art and Culture in collaboration with Charu Castle Foundation and Northern Indian Folk Art Society (NIFAS) at Gaiety Theater Shimla today.
The Governor said that Indian religions, beliefs, festivals, rituals, artifacts, monuments, costumes, music, dance, language and literature are the hallmark of Indian culture and collectively make it so rich. It is not only believed but has been acknowledged and recognized by the people all over the world. She appreciated the efforts of NIFAS for organizing Folk Dance competition since 1984 for female students to show their skills. She added that the steps taken by the NIFAS accelerate the Governments efforts to preserve the rich culture of the State.
She said that this type of events helps to encourage the young generation especially girl students to keep our rich culture and tradition through folk music- dance alive, which brings people together from all parts of our country to single platform on which they can perform and help to promote national cohesiveness the degree of support to fine arts, especially folk dances in the country directly serve as indicator of the level of refinement achieved by people at large. India exhibits diversity of cultural practices. The unique blend of various rich cultures has influenced the various other parts of world to a great extend, she added.
Smt. Manisha Nanda, Principal Secretary, Language and Culture said that Himachal has rich cultural heritage and she underlined need to preserve rich cultural heritage of the State.
Earlier, Smt. Prabha Rau lit the lamp.Shri Kapoor V. Bhan, founder of NIFAS read out the report of Charu Castle.Shri Prem Sharma, Director, Language, Art and Culture Department welcomed the Governor and others.
Colourful impressive programme was also present on this occasion.