STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: A two-day Dogri Cuisine, Culture and Craft festival began on Saturday with gala opening and festivity at Kala Kendra Jammu. The event, organised by JKTDC in collaboration with Directorate of Tourism Jammu, was inaugurated by Secretary Tourism, Sarmad Hafiz.
The festival is showcasing variety, uniqueness and affluence of Dogra food, culture and craft.
Visitors can enjoy traditional cuisines of various districts of Jammu including Rajouri, Poonch, Doda and Kishtwar in this festival. Rich art and craft of Jammu like calico painting, Basohli painting, Basohli Pashmina is also on display during the event. The old and ancient manuscripts, coinage, utensils, musical instruments and pottery are also being showcased in the carnival depicting the legacy of Duggar culture and history. A Painting and Photo Exhibition of miniature Basohli paintings and pictures and paintings depicting Gojri culture are attracting a good influx of visitors.
A large number of people participated in the inaugural ceremony of the festival and enjoyed the delicacies of dogra cuisines being served in different stalls.
Pertinently, despite overwhelming participation of people, all preventive protocols regarding COVID-19 like social distancing and mask wearing are strictly adhered to in the festival.
In the first day of the festival, audience was mesmerized by several melodious performances of singers like Sonali Dogra and Satinder Kumar Shanu. Besides, local folk dances like Haran and Dhecku, vocal performances like Paakh and Kaarkaan and practice of rutt-rare received great audience love and appreciation. Among others present on the occasion were Managing Director JKTDC, Nisar Ahmed Wani, Director Tourism Jammu R K Katoch, MD J&K Car Cable Corporation, Majid Drabu, Director Handloom and Handicraft, Vikas Gupta, Director Planning Tourism, Parvez Sajjad and other concerned officers of Tourism Department
