Elephant Festival - Celebrating the Royalty

Men in  its history, have deployed many a means for their transport, some mechanized and some driven by animals. Man had rode on Horses, mules, camels and have employed bulls and even dogs to pull their vehicle and help them move, but when it comes to Elephant, it instantly exuberate royalty. One of the most difficult animals to rear and maintain and although not as swift as others,  its sheer size makes its rider feel on the top of world and powerful. 

The camel is the most visible symbol of Rajasthan, however when it comes to Rajput royalty, the elephant wins hands down. Elephants have always been a carrier of royalty in Indian culture, and to celebrate the association and beauty of this beast,  Rajasthan  - a princely state associated with abundance of  royalties initiated THE ELEPHANT FESTIVAL, to be celebrated in the Pink city of Jaipur. 

So, while Bikaner ,Jaisalmer and Pushkar celebrates the Ship of the Desert through their respective cattle fairs ,Jaipur scores it points by celebrating the symbol of Royalty The elephant. The Elephant festival is organised every year by the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation, just a day prior to the festival of Colors Holi ( Dhulandi), making it even more interesting. The Elephant Festival is held at its official venue, Rambagh Polo Ground in Jaipur, and attracts thousands of eager tourists from across India and overseas. 

The festival usually starts at around 1500 hrs and lasts for about 03 hrs, where apart from the Elephants, human folk artists and guests to participate, creating an atmosphere of joyous celebration of life, which culminates into the festival of colors - Holi , which is celebrated with vigour, the very next day. There is no entrance charges/ tickets to witness the festival and all are welcome to participate and witness this magnificent festival. 

The festival starts with the traditional procession of the richly decorated and caparisoned elephants , accompanied by the folk musician and dancers, who march along , while the dancers in their bright colored clothes displays their rich moves spreading a flurry of colors, the melodious folk music blend perfectly with the background, setting your mood for enjoyment. You would have rarely seen the monotonously colored black elephants in such a rich colorful avatar. The procession is followed by best decorated Elephant competition. Elephants, like beauty queens of a pageant walks on the ground displaying their makeup. Elephants are richly decorated with the application of vibrant colors on their body in different motives, their golden and silver caparison perfectly blending with the cloths , trinkets and jewellery they adorn in their neck, trunks and tusks, giving them the most beautiful look. The most innovatively and beautifully decorated Elephant is adjudged the winner and offered a prize. 

You will then see the prowess of an Elephant as it swiftly moves covering the vast Polo Ground, while a match of Elephant Polo is played. The players wear saffron and red turbans, sit on the elephants, and try to score goals with long sticks and a plastic football. Only female elephants take part in this festival. Elephant Polo is followed by a race between the Elephants. 

Visitors and tourists also get to test their strength when tourist (mostly foreigners- on account of extending courtesy to the guest an integral part of India culture) picked from the audience get to participate in the tug of war with the elephant. Since years ,there is always one winner, every year however the visitors do hope to reverse the obvious result.

Th Crafts Museum, Delhi - Preserving Folk Art Legacy

National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum, New Delhi

 

With the advent of modern technology and machines capable of producing items on mass scale without the interference of the human in most cases, the scope of human creativity being engraved into the creation of the articles of daily use, be its textile or utensils have got limited. It also mean that those engaged in the creative field of Handicrafts and textiles too are seeing the demand of their produce dwindling and their art facing extinction.

With the aim of preserving the traditional arts and crafts of craftsmen from different parts of India, showcasing their talent and giving them a platform where they can display their creation directly to the buyer, National Handicrafts and Handloom Museum was established in the year 1956. The sustained effort of the renowned freedom fighter Smt Kamladevi Chattopadhyaya over 1950’s -60’s saw its further expansion for a period of next 30 years , to give it the present form and scale.

Located on Bhairon Road, near Pragati Maidan in Delhi and run by Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, it is also popularly known as crafts museum, The crafts Museum is unique in a way as it painstakingly imitates typical Indian villages from different parts of India, where the craftsmen sitting outside the museum displays their skills. A visit to Crafts museum will not only let you see the long history of the Indian crafts and the produce of some of the finest folk craftsmen, it also gives you an insight into the way people in Indian villages stay and go about their daily life.

Today the museum holds over 35,000 rare and distinctive pieces of pottery, wood carvings, metal ware sculpture, image and toys sculpture, folk paintings, tribal textiles and hand made jewellery, embroidery of tribes from Bihar, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh among other states. Some of the arte facts on display are upto 300 years old. All craft items are housed in the buildings designed between 1975 and 1990 by renowned architect Charles Correa, who has incorporated traditional architectural vocabulary into a modern design.

The museum is further divided into five different galleries which include the Tribal and Rural Craft Gallery, Gallery of Courtly Crafts, Textile Gallery, Gallery of Popular Culture & Ritual craft gallery. Each of these galleries display a wide range of collection of some rate and unique craft work that ranges from lamps, incense stick burners, bronze and precious metal-ware images and jewellery, stone and wood sculptures, utensils and accessories for daily use, clay pots, clay dolls and wooden toys, puppets, tribal masks and jewellery, bamboo, cane and terracotta craft work.Some of its prized collection include, the 250-300-year-old, Bhoota (Bhuta) Collection from Karnataka (which is basically collection of carved out figures of Goddesses and folk deities of coastal Karnataka iin wood), rare Kashmiri 300-year-old ‘dushalas’, handkerchiefs from Chamba, known for their unique embroidery, rare brocade and Baluchari saris and Kutch embroidery, precious metal jewellery, rare bronze figurines from the tribes of Chhattisgarh, architectural style of Gujarat carved in wood depicting havelis, jharokhas (window), balconies, along with wall hangings, bead work, rare and unique Brocade saris and much more . The museum also boasts of huge collection of tribal and rural textiles and is an equally interesting place to visit for researchers, designers, students and craftsmen.

The Museum also houses a village complex spread over 5 acre (2000 sqmts), a remnant of a temporary exhibition on the theme of India held at 1972. The village complex have 15 structures representing village dwellings (houses) with their elaborate courtyards, rooms and kitchens, the huts made of mud and haystacks, hay roofs and sandy streets. Each of the 15 structures represents the exact replica of a village house from a different state of India, each house equipped with the replica of items used in daily life and depicts how villagers live in actual life. The crafts village also provides accommodation to several traditional craftsmen, who can be seen working in designated areas of the museum complex, where they display how the crafts are produced and actually sell their products.

The village complex also has open walls along the corridors & passages which are used as the canvas to display the painted traditions of several tribes by folk artisans/painters. Every month new folk artists are invited from different parts of the country to paint and decorate the museum’s walls.

 

Apart from the collection of handicrafts and textile and the crafts village, the museum houses Research and Documentation facilities, a reference library, a conservation laboratory and an auditorium.

The National Handicrafts and Handlooms museum, Delhi a.k.a crafts museum is open daily except Monday. The Museum opens at 0930 hrs and is open till 1700 hrs between July and September while it is open from 0930 hrs till 1800 hrs from October to June.

National Handicrafts and Handloom Museum or Crafts Museum is doing a tremendous job in preserving and promoting the folk legacy of India.

More information can be had from the craft museum’s own website www.nationalcraftsmuseum.nic.in

Siliguri - The Gateway To North East

Siliguri : Located on the foothills of Himalaya, on the banks for River Mahananda, spread in an area of 48 sq kms, Siliguri is the second largest city in the state of West Bengal and the largest city in North Bengal. Located in the area, known as chickens neck (a thin strip of land connecting mainland India with North East) on the map of India, it is a gateway to main hill stations of North East India including Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong, Mirik etc. Siliguri shares its border with three countries, China, Bangladesh and Nepal which not only makes it a strategically important city but also a trading hub. With half a million of population and a booming economy, Siliguri is the transit point for air, rail and road transport for North East India. Its strategic location makes it an important military base, which is affirmed by the presence of the bases of Indian Army, Shahshatra Seema Bal, The Assam Rifles, Central Reserve Police Force and Border Security force.

The origin of Siliguri cannot be ascertained, Siliguri (known as Silichaguri till 19^th century) roughly means a heap of stones or pebbles and acted as a transit point between Nepal, Darjeeling and Kurseong. It was a small village in the trans- Morang Zone (i.e. at the meeting ground of western and eastern Morang), and belonged to the southernmost fringe of Kingdom of Sikkim. Just to the south of Siliguri, At Phanisdeoa, there was a river port having trade relations with Maldah and subsequently with the rest of Bengal and Bihar. The Sikkimese and the Bhutanese (mainly via Kalimpong as it was under Bhutan since the beginning of the eighteenth century) used the river bank near Siliguri in order to go down the Mahananda with their merchandise to Phansideoa. With the rise of King Prithvi Narayan Shah (1769 -1775), the area was annexed and came under Nepal. After the Sugauli Treaty in 1816 between British India and Nepal, post Anglo Nepal War, it became a part of British India. With the Occupation of Darjeeling in 1835 and rest of Dooars and Kalimpong in 1865, Siliguri started developing as a small town and major trading point. With the declaration of Indian Independence in 1947 and separation of Bangladesh, Siliguri saw a huge influx of immigrants and the city grow into a large town. The introduction of the railway to North East India and construction of Siliguri train station on 23^rd August 1880, played an important part in the development of this town. Siliguri today is an important town with majority of Bengali population co-existing with Gurkhas, Marwaris, Biharis etc.

Life in Siliguri revolves around 4T’s – Tea, Timber, Tourism and Transport. The climate of Siliguri is pleasurable throughout the year and is perfect for growing tea. Many Tea Garden are present in and around Siliguri town and gives it a green ethereal surrounding and a beautiful landscape to be cherished.

Being a transit point, the transport infrastructure of Siliguri is comprehensively advanced. Public Transport means include auto rickshaws, cycle rickshaws, local buses and large tempo. Siliguri have three major railway stations, The Siliguri Town is the Oldest in the area, Opened on 23^rd August 1880, it is the starting point for the famous narrow gauge Toy Train to Darjeeling. Siliguri Junction was the second one opened in 1949 was the point of departure for all trains to North East. It used to be one of the only railway station in India with all three gauge train tracks. Now all the long distance trains have been converted into broad gauge and the metre gauge does not exist. The New Jalpaiguri (earlier known as New Silliguri) was opened in 1964 and serves as the connecting point to every nook and corner of the country. It is one of the largest station in North East India.

Bagdogra International Airport is the only airport in the region connecting North Bengal, Sikkim and some of the North Eastern states. The airport is connected with direct flights to Kolkata and Delhi and from there connects to the rest of the world.

The Tenzin Norgay bus station connects Siliguri to Kolkata, Patna and Assam through overnight sleeper buses. It also connects to destination in Gangtok and a bus service also exists connecting to Phuentsholing in Bhutan.

Siliguri apart from being a trading hub is also a tourist paradise. Apart the Tea Gardens and beautiful, many important tourist places can be visited while in Silliguri

Salugara Monastery: Founded by Buddhist monks, it is a Buddhist pilgrim centre for the followers of Dalai Lama. There is a 100feet stupa here which is believed to have been founded by Kalu Rimpoche, the Lama from Tibet. It has five varieties of relics. Located 06 kms from Siliguri, it has scenic surroundings perfect for meditation..

Coronation Bridge: Built in the year 1930, this bridge over River Teesta, located at the meeting point of River Rangeet and River Teesta was built to respect the coronation of King George V.It is an important construction as it connects Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling. Situated near to Sevokeshwari Kali Mandir in the serene surroundings over the beautifully clear waters, this is a true specimen of excellent Britush architectural excellence.

Surya Sen Park: Located in Mahakal Pally, this is one of the most popular picnic spot. This is an eco friendly zone and was developed to make people aware about preserving environment and educate about alternative energy sources. There is a bust statue of Surya Sen in the park. The picturesque ambience here with majestic landscapes makes the park perfect for tourists.

ISKCON: The temple for International Society for Krishna Consciousness is in dedication to Lord Krishna. Managed by Hari Krishna Movement, it has idols of Lord Narasimha, Radha, Lord Krishna and it is resplendent with its marbled tiled flooring.

Science Centre: Located in the northern part of Siliguri. It has a collection of scientific experiments and well equipped gadgets, a nature Interpretation centre showing the diverse flora and fauna found here.

Madhuban Nature Park: An initiative by the Indian Army, it is beautifully maintained Park and is a perfect picnic spot. Rabbit, Deer, Peacocks etc are found here apart from beautiful and vide variety of butterflies.

Mahananda Weir Wildlife Sanctuary: A lovely patch of green forestland between the Teesta and Mahananda Rivers, it is full of dense Bushes and thick trees. Sambar, Elephant, Indian Bison, Fishing Cat , Barking Deer and cheetal are some of the animals fond here in abundance. It is also a great destination for trekkers offering various trekking routes.

Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary: One of the Oldest Indian Sanctuaries, located in Dooars alongside River Murti, this was declared a sanctuary in 1998. It is home to mixed dry forests with Sal, Shishu, Teak and Shirish Trees apart from beautiful Orchids are found here. Indian Bison, Indian Elephant, Cheetal, barking Deer, Pangolin etc are the main animals found here and The adjutant Stork, Green Pigeon, Indian Treepie and Green Magpie are the main birds found here. There is an observation tower here and also a tribal village.

Savin Kingdom: A tourist spot mainly for amusement and entertainment, it is a beautiful spot with great scenic beauty. Ensconced amidst Tea Plantation, it has large playgrounds and is also a favored picnic spot.

Umrao Singh Boat Club: Located at a place called Sukna, this boat club is maintained by Indian Army. The boat club offers boating on  various types of boats like paddled boat and engine boats and is a place to enjoy and relax.