pointoutnews.com march 2015 A bridge between India and Bharat

More than 900 tribes
showcased their unique
culinary skills from the
tribal kitchen at the food
stalls. Some of the major
dishes of the festival were
Fish with bamboo juice
from Nagaland, Smoked
Pork with bamboo shoot
from Manipur, Bamboo rice
puttu from Tamil Nadu,
Mahua flower sweets from
Chhattisgarh, Tea made
of Ghee from Uttrakhand,
Paan roti from Madhya
Pradesh and many more
from other parts of the
country.
H
ave you experienced the drum
beat and dance of the Gond
tribes reverberating through
the forests or the soulful flute
of the Bhil tribes, the natural acrobatic
skills of the young tribal boys of
Odisha, the vibrant weaves of the
North Eastern Tribes, the beautiful
dancing forms of tribes like Dhemsa,
Oraon and Munda from Odisha, Bhil
and Rathwa from Gujarat, Baiga and
Gond from MP, and rich painting
styles like Worli, Rathawa, Soura, and
Gond. If not, then you’ve missed a lot.
The first ever National Tribal Festival,
which was held from 13th to 18th
February 2015 in Delhi, encompassed
all this and much more. Titled as
‘VANAJ’, the National Tribal Festival
was full of entertainment, fun as well
as knowledge about the tribal culture.
Organized by the Ministry of Tribal
Affairs, it featured 900 folk tribes from
all over the country. Participants from
states like Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu,
51
Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Madhya
Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Assam,
Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan came
to showcase their traditional culture
and heritage. The tribal festival was
simultaneously held at three venues
in Delhi, that is, the Central Park
- Connaught Place, Indira Gandhi
National Centre for Arts (IGNCA),
and Baba Kharak Singh Marg. Entries
to all the venues were free. People
thronged the festival in huge numbers
to have a glimpse of this unique event.
The maiden edition of the festival
coincided with the spring time tribal
festivals of Phagu, Phagua and Phagun
Parab, which celebrate tribal life. It
appreciated the rich diversity of tribal
culture and heritage from varied tribal
communities across India. Apart from
this, there were exhibitions and sale of
tribal products, medicines, paintings,
art and handicraft products. The aim
of the weeklong festival was to bridge
the gaps of social divide and to help in
national integration. It was intended
to uplift the quality of tribal lives of
the country in order to conserve and
promote the distinctive cultures of
India by providing them a national
platform.
A whole lot of cultural programmes,
live performances, photo display, book
exhibition, display and sale of paintings,
medicinal plants, art and craft, music
and dance, traditional healing practices,
tribal food, and documentary films
were showcased in this one of its type
festival. Seminars on various topics
such as traditional tribal knowledge/
wisdom, contemporization of tribal
art, tribal medicine and traditional
healing system, tribal folklore and oral
tradition, traditional tribal food and
crops took place.
The main attraction of the festival was
the authentic tribal cuisine. The ethnic
tribal cuisine comprised of various
dishes from different states of India.
More than 900 tribes showcased their
unique culinary skills from the tribal
kitchen at the food stalls. Some of the
major dishes of the festival were Fish
with bamboo juice from Nagaland,
Smoked Pork with bamboo shoot
from Manipur, Bamboo rice puttu
from Tamil Nadu, Mahua flower
sweets from Chhattisgarh, Tea made
of Ghee from Uttrakhand, Paan roti
from Madhya Pradesh and many more
from other parts of the country. In all,
the festival was a success in itself and
hopefully festivals like this take place
in future.