3 Day Pahari cultural festival opens at Uri

Pahari a language of historical importance; need to promote, preserve it: Safeena Beigh

Cultural activities important component of tourism promotion: Dir Tourism

URI, MAY 24: J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages with an active collaboration of Tourism Department and Baramulla District Administration today held a 03 day long Pahari Cultural Festival at Mini Stadium here.

The three day Pahari Cultural Festival was inaugurated by Chairperson, District Development Council Baramulla, Safeena Beigh and witnessed participation of Director Tourism Kashmir, Dr. G.N. Itoo as a special guest and all the senior officers of district, students, poets, writers, musicians, cultural activists besides a large number of people across the district.

Addressing the inaugural session of the conference, the Chairperson referred to the richness of Pahari language and said that it is an important language in Jammu & Kashmir and has a great historic significance.

Elucidating further, Safeena Beigh said that Pahari Culture is a rich tradition with distinct traditional Attires, Folk Songs and Language and it is the prime responsibility of all Culture lovers to preserve the Cultural and Linguistic traditions of Jammu & Kashmir.

Safeena Beigh underscored the need for holding cultural events depicting the varied nature and cultural diversity of every region and group.

The Director Tourism Kashmir also spoke on the occasion and highlighted the importance of preserving and protecting the culture and heritage of Jammu and Kashmir. 

He said that these festivals help increase tourism and cultural exchange in the union territory as the tourists visiting here from across the country or abroad show keen interest in knowing the culture and heritage of the region.

Dr. Itoo said cultural activities form an important component of tourism promotion and the Tourism Department encourages these cultural festivals as it gives a boost to the tourism sector. He said the Department has recently identified 75 new tourist destinations and the basis of their identification has been their unique cultural identity, heritage quotient and cuisine.

Other speakers also stressed the need for promotion of languages for the development of the society, as they stand as the mark of identity for the people.

On the first day of the festival, a series of performances were showcased which reflect the cultural richness of the Pahari language.

 On the occasion, the poets and some renowned artists of the valley together mesmerized the audience with their performance, which was equally received with great applause. 

The Artists presented patriotic songs and renowned poets recited their patriotic poems in Kashmiri, Urdu, Gojri and Pahari.

A variety of cultural items was also presented which received applause from the participants.  

Moreover various poets read their works wherein stress was laid on promoting the languages and cultural heritage of Jammu and Kashmir. 

Secretary, J&K Academy of Art, Culture & Languages, Bharat Singh formally welcomed the delegates to the festival.

Earlier, DDC Chairperson, Director Tourism and other guests inspected various kinds of stalls that were installed on the occasion depicting the culture, heritage and language of the area.