TAWANG, Oct 21: The famous Tawang festival started on Friday at historic Tawang town. Now in its fifth year, the festival has established itself as global event with presence of U.S. Ambassador to India Richard Verma. The Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal declared the three days festival open.Celebrating the age-old relations between Assam and Arunachal, the Assam CM said, “We are
from the same family of the North East India. So we will have to stay together, work together and prosper together.” He exhorted the youths to realize their potential through hard work and said that Tawang festival is an opportunity for them to explore their talent. “Tawang is not a just a place, but it’s the land of Gods. The place will shine and grow and will be able to curve her own destiny in future,” Sonowal added.
The Assam CM also spoke on various welfare initiatives being taken by the centre for the North East under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu, chief patron of the Tawang festival said that Assam and Arunachal has maintained deep cultural ties from ages. So to celebrate this bonding, the Assam Chief Minister has been invited to be part of the festival, he informed and thanked Sonowal for accepting the invitation.
The Arunachal CM appealed the people to cooperate with state government to make tourism industry a success in the state. He said though the state has high tourism potential but the communication bottleneck is one major impediment for the sector to flourish. Khandu informed the Tawang people that bearing in mind such bottlenecks, the centre under PM Modi has given special preference for the state.
Ambassador Verma earlier thanked the people of Arunachal and especially Tawang for extending invite to him, on behalf of American people and President Obama. He said the U.S. – India relation is all time high and the country is looking towards India to work together in the field of tourism and technology.
Earlier, the festival began with Sebang, a religious procession carried out by monks from Tawang monastery to the festival ground.
18 exhibition stalls were set up, amongst which Monpa stall from Mukto and Lumla demonstrated the process of handmade paper and shengmar-akhmar making respectively. While various medicinal plants were displayed highlighting their respective uses in the Gomkang Nursery Stall, Monpa pottery making stall of Industries department displayed the age-old art of pottery making. This was followed by Mangalcharan prayer, which was recited seeking infinite blessing of the deities for auspicious beginning. Different cultural tableaus and cultural troupes from various tribes of Arunachal and neighbouring state Assam showcased their rich tradition and culture.
Deputy Chief Minister, Chowna Mein, Health Minister Jomde Kena, Parliamentary Secretary Jambey Tashi, and MLAs Tsering Tashi, Dr Mohesh Chai, Paknga Bage, Laisam Simai and Kaling Moyong are attending the event.
No comments:
Post a Comment