10-day Taj fest commences

Vijay Upadhyay
Agra. With the Surajkund fest coming to an end in Faridabad, Agra began its end-of-tourism-season fest with the 16th Annual 10-day Taj Mahotsava, which was inaugurated in Agra on Sunday by UP Development Council chairman Amar Singh at Shilpgram, followed by playback singer Shaan performing in a musical evening.

Functioning year-long as a mere parking place for tourist buses coming to the Taj Mahal, the Shilpgram comes abuzz with activity and fanfare only during these 10 days, with the participation of over 450 artisans from around the country for which the State Government has granted a fund of just Rs one lakh.

Talking to mediapersons after the inaugural, Agra Divisional Commissioner Ashok Kumar said an Opera by a French cultural troupe was also scheduled to be held during the festival. According to Kumar, the festival shall be closed on February 27.

He said this year there was a lack of adequate funds for the festival and the festival committee had to arrange for sponsors among the corporate world. He said the maximum number of sponsorship offers for the events in the festival had arrived from Delhi based property developers that already had housing and commercial projects running in the town besides some other local builders.

Apart from these, he said, the UP State Road Transport Corporation was coming in the festival for the first time as a major sponsor for the events, the newly formed joint venture of IOCL and GAIL - Green Gas Ltd - had also agreed to sponsor some events in the festival to highlight its role in setting up CNG stations in Agra.

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