Dang (Gujarat), Aug 8 (IANS) More than 300 artists from eight states, along with over 110 artists from Gujarat, are taking part in the Saputara Monsoon Festival in Dang, bringing folk music, dance, tribal traditions and handicrafts from different parts of the country together with the cultural heritage of the region.
Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi and other dignitaries flagged off the festival parade ahead of the inauguration of the Monsoon Festival at the hill station on Saturday.
The festival is providing local artists, folk singers, dancers, handicraft artisans and traditional practitioners from Dang with a platform to present their work alongside artists from other states.
The programme includes cultural performances, an Art Village, nature trails, children’s activities, displays of tribal art and culture, local cuisine and folk traditions.
The participation of artists from eight states, together with artists from Gujarat, is intended to present different regional traditions on a common platform and reflects the spirit of ‘Ek Bharat–Shreshtha Bharat’.
The festival is being held against the backdrop of Saputara’s monsoon landscape, combining nature-based activities with cultural programmes and traditional arts.
Sanghavi, while inaugurating the festival, called for tourism to be used as a means of supporting development and public welfare.
“Let us further strengthen the resolve of development through tourism activities, prosperity through development, and public welfare through prosperity,” he said.
The festival also coincides with the completion of several tourism infrastructure projects in Saputara.
The Gujarat Tourism Corporation has completed tourism facilities at Sunset Point at a cost of Rs 9.85 crore. The project includes development of the viewpoint, a food court and administrative block, parking, basic amenities, landscaping, a sundial and other site-development works.
The facility has been opened to tourists. Redevelopment of the existing Sunrise Point has also been completed at a cost of Rs 4.40 crore, and the site has been opened to visitors.
The work included basic facilities, a food court, nursery, landscaping, electrification and site development. An auditorium project is also under construction in Saputara at an estimated cost of Rs 21.36 crore.
The proposed facility will have a 500-capacity auditorium, parking, an event lawn, cafeteria, seminar hall and multipurpose hall, stage and green room, kitchen and utility block, besides interior, furniture, site-development and electrification works.
According to the Tourism Corporation, the facility is intended to support destination events, corporate meetings, conferences and other functions, while creating employment opportunities in Saputara and generating revenue for the government.
Tourism projects are also being taken up at other locations in South Gujarat. An ecotourism site is being developed at Wilson Hill in Valsad district, while basic tourist facilities and other development works are being undertaken at the Devmogra Mataji Temple in Sagbara taluka of Narmada district at a cost of Rs 16 crore.
Under the state government’s ‘Viksit Gujarat-2047’ vision and its economic master plan for the Surat Economic Region, tourism-oriented activities are planned at Ukai Dam with an estimated cost of Rs 125 crore.
Development of basic tourist facilities and other works is also planned at Suvali, Ubhrat and Tithal beaches at a cost of Rs 200 crore.
The festival in Saputara is therefore being held alongside ongoing tourism infrastructure development across South Gujarat, while providing a common platform for local and visiting artists to showcase folk traditions, handicrafts and cultural practices.
–IANS
mys/uk