Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Governor General (Retd) J J Singh has called for preservation and promotion of folk dances as part of Indian art and culture.
Gracing the occasion of National Folk Dance Festival here on Sunday night, Gen Singh said that if the folk dances are lost, native culture is lost and the people also loss their identity, and exhorted all to revive folk music, folk dance and folk drama of different tribes of the country.
While urging the parents to teach customs and traditions, including indigenous dialect, to their children to maintain a linkage between the past, present and future, he lauded the indigenous organizations who are working in preserving indigenous faiths and cultural heritage.
Stating that Arunachal Pradesh is not only rich in biodiversity but also rich in ethnic and cultural diversity, the governor said that the state was a mini India and truly a mesmerizing cultural mosaic, a Raj Bhawan release informed here on Sunday.
He maintained that with its cultural assets, Arunachal Pradesh has huge scope for promotion of its culture. When combined with tourism, it will be a sustainable venture and will provide boost to rural economy and to the state as a whole, he added.
Lauding the North East Zone Cultural Center, Dimapur and state Department of Art & Culture for organizing the National Folk Dance Festival, Gen Singh expressed his confidence that the festival would showcase the richness, diversity and magnificence of Indian art and culture through its folk dances.
He said that folk dance and cultural festivals have always played a crucial role in increasing consciousness amongst the people about cultural heritage, traditions and practices in other parts of the country and enrich relationships. It also instills the proud spirit of ‘Unity in Diversity’ in every Indian, he added.
He said media can play an important role in depicting the culture traditions and practices of the north east region.
Artists and folk dancers from Arunachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Manipur, Gujarat, Assam and Punjab took part in the festival. (PTI)