JASHN-E-VIRASAT-URDU : URDU HERITAGE FESTIVAL
Video Courtesy : https://www.facebook.com/pg/DelhiUrduAcademy
Delhi government is pleased to announce Virasat-e-Urdu, a festival to celebrate Urdu heritage and culture. The festival will be inaugurated by the Deputy Chief Minister Mr Manish Sisodia on Saturday, 10th November (Detailed programme is attached with this release)
The festival celebrates the culture or tehzeeb associated with Urdu. It is the sincere endeavour of the Delhi government to preserve and promote the collective social and cultural heritage of the city. With the aim to keep alive the language and ensure its growth through larger participation, the Delhi government has taken a number of steps to improve and give a desired make over to the Urdu Heritage Festival. It is a solemn aspiration of the government that deeper understanding and appreciation of our linguistic diversity is achieved through such programmes.
“We are pleased with the overwhelming response to the Urdu Heritage Festival’s last edition. That has encouraged us to present a bigger and better avatar of the festival. Urdu is an integral part of Delhi’s cultural and literary history. It is an important marker of Delhi’s composite culture. Our government hopes to create an environment of harmony and love through such programmes. Urdu has the unique ability to touch hearts. This celebration of Urdu will bring together all the lovers of Urdu who can enjoy the use of the language in varied forms”, Mr Sisodia said.
The last edition of the festival brought a makeover as the festival had moved from Red Fort lawns to Central Park. The festival was a huge success and attended by thousands everyday. The festival this year gets bigger with a an exciting and diverse line-up (details attached).
NEW CENTRAL VENUE
To reach out to a new and wider audience, the festival was moved to a more central and accessible venue in the heart of the city, Central Park in Connaught place. The venue proved to be not only convenient for regular patrons of the festival but also attracted passerbys and new people to the language. Some attendees stumbled upon the festival and returned each day, mesmerized by what they saw.
In addition to the more accessible venue, the Festival has free entry for everyone. The location of central park provides a cosmopolitan ambience to the audience. The aim is to encourage participation of the general public in this linguistic and cultural extravaganza. The Department hopes to host around 5000 citizens of Delhi which is double the number of people who visit it every year.
Bringing diverse artists and art-forms
The lineup brings together a diverse range of artists and artforms practising Urdu. From traditional forms like Chaar Bait – a rare traditional style of singing in Urdu, Dastangoi and Kissagoi, to big stars like Suresh Wadekar and Javed Ali of bollywood fame.
There are a number of programmes to reach out to the youth in this years festival. These artists represent the vigour and energy of a resurgent young populace who had lost the touch with the traditional legacy. It is an endeavour to reinvent the historical charm of the language through a vibrant musical, artistic and poetic rendition in diverse forms and ways.
Highlighting Traditional Arts and Delhi Culture
In order to bring out the traditional cultural legacy from the streets and walkways of the walled city to the progressive citizenry of the modern metropolitan Delhi, various arts and crafts are being encouraged. Composite Calligraphy styles as well as Tashe Nafiri are being presented.
Stalls
In order to celebrate and perpetuate the beauty of this enigmatic language, stalls of various entities exhibiting Urdu merchandise, literature and poetic legacy have been arranged at the venue. Stalls for merchandise and exhibitions are being held to present the the Urdu language in all its forms and aspects. Urdu Academy’s collected scholarly works and books would be sold. In addition to it, the creative local treasures of ‘Purani DIlli Walon ki Batttein’ and ‘Khwab Tanhah’ would also be showcased in a stall.
Delhi Archives would also present the old and historical documents.
Platform for New Talent
The festival forward a host new artists and performers of the enlightening prose and poetry of Urdu language.
