Bhopal, November 23, 2022: Vishwarang 2022, a global festival aiming to grow cultural awareness and spread the legacy of the rich Indian heritage, came to a grand closure in Bhopal, the cultural heart of India. The festival welcomed and hosted artists and eminent personalities from across the globe, joining hands to enlighten and appreciate India’s literature, arts and culture .
A seven-day cultural extravaganza, Vishwarang 2022 celebrated the true spirit of India. Many dignitaries including Governor of Madhya Pradesh Mangubhai Patel; Governor of Chhattisgarh, Dr Anusuiya Uikey; Minister of Culture (Madhya Pradesh) Usha Thakur, Minister of Public Health and Welfare Department, MP Prabhuram Chaudhary, and MSME & Science & Technology Minister Om Prakash Sakhlecha graced the programme by their presence.
While applauding Vishwarang, Governor Mangubhai Patel said, “Such festivals allow the young generation to get the basic knowledge of arts, culture, and literature, thus helping in building a culturally vibrant and prosperous India.” He further said such programmes inspire the youth to work for their family, society and the country.
Governor of Chhattisgarh Dr Anusuiya Uikey said, “Vishwarang is a convergence point of the cultures of the world. This festival presents a unique global exchange of literature, arts and culture, allowing the youth to learn not just about India’s diverse heritage but also get a global exposure. The event shows the true characteristics of Indian culture, bringing forth the values of socialism, and composite culture through each of the sessions. Vishwarang is contributing towards India’s journey of becoming Vishwaguru in the 21st century.”
Successfully concluding the 4th edition, Director of Vishwarang Santosh Choubey said, “Arts and culture play an extremely significant role in the development of any country and we are delighted to see the response towards the festival which aims to promote our country’s vast heritage. We are proud to see how Vishwarang has outgrown itself from 12 countries to now being celebrated in more than 50 countries. Apart from the huge response in Bhopal, Vishawarang reached more than 2 crore people on our digital platforms. What made this year even more precious is the letter we received from the honorable Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, appreciating and congratulating us for Vishwarang. The success of this edition has reinforced our belief that celebration of arts and culture transcends man-made barriers. We are excited to announce thst the 5th edition of Vishwarang will be even bigger and better.”
The success of the grand, star-studded festival Vishwarang is attributed to Director Santosh Choubey, Co-director Dr Aditi Chaturvedi Vats, Co-Director Dr Siddharth Chaturvedi, Director of Get Set Parent’s Children’s Literature Art and Music Festival Dr Pallavi Rao Chaturvedi,and the teams of AISECT and Rabindranath Tagore University (RNTU), Bhopal.
Key highlights of Vishwarang 2022
This year, the festival began with an Artists Walk For World Peace & Harmony, followed by a National Painting exhibition, film screening and discussion sessions on tribal and folk culture. The inaugural ceremony was graced by performances by acclaimed artists like Kaushiki Chakraborty, Papon, Shilpa Rao, & Maithili Thakur. Celebrities like filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, actors Manoj Pahwa, Rasika Dugal and Biswapati Sarkar, scientist K Kasturirangan, Shark Tank fame Ashneer Grover, playwright and poet Nand Kishore Acharya, President of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations Vinay Prabhakar Sahasrabuddhe, Indian diplomat and author Pavan K Varma, National Organising Secretary of Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal Mukul Kanitkar, author Naveen Choudhary, and many more participated in the festival.
Kala Mahotsav (14th – 16th November 2022)
From November 14 to November 16, a grand event of Vishwarang Kala Mahotsav was held at Rabindranath Tagore University and Rabindra Bhawan, Bhopal. The art festival began with the performance by famous classical singer Kaushiki Chakraborty. Other key highlights of the festival included performances like Shri Ram by Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra, play Bandish directed by well‐known theatrical director Poorva Naresh, Rabindra Sangeet by Shubbrata Sen, and Vrindgaan by Sur Parag Jabalpur.
Tagore International Literature and Arts Festival (17th- 20th November)
The main function of Vishwarang was inaugurated by Governor of Madhya Pradesh Mangubhai Patel. A Sadbhavana Rally from Ravindra Bhavan to Khushabhau Thakre Hall and painting competition were other key highlights,
Various sessions of literature, arts, and culture were organised under the main Vishwarang festival. Participants got an opportunity to participate in a variety of events like Meet the author, poetic sessions, movies, story sessions etc. The event also saw active participation to discuss various relevant topics like Indian knowledge system and National Education Policy, and Entrepreneurship. Painting, Dhrupad music, and poetry recitation by the Indian Diaspora enthralled the festival attendees. The festival also hosted the International Kavi Sammelan and Mushaira, in which poets like Alok Shrivastav, Azhar Iqbal, Shinkaf Nizam performed. The session also saw the participation of Francis Combes (France), Sheetanshu Yashashchandra, Shahnaz Munni (Bangladesh), Sukrita Paul, and Jayant Parmar. They also discussed world poetry and recited their compositions. Meanwhile, Santosh Choubey presided over the Second World Poetry Session. Vedim Terekhim (Russia), Moej, Majid (Tunisia), Nerissa Guevara (Philippines), A.J. Thomas, and Rituraj were also present. Apart from this, keeping in mind the importance of tribal community and their culture, Vishwarang also organised a special festival on Tribal Literature and Arts Festival, under which programmes related to tribal art, dance, painting, and literature were held.
Partner Country Festival (1st – 10th November 2022)
Vishwarang festival has emerged as a platform from Central India that is now gaining fame in 50 other countries such as Germany, USA, UK, UAE, Ireland, China, Singapore, Canada, and Netherlands. Various authors participated in the discussions, including diaspora literature, women’s writings and the role of regional language literature. The 3-day festival featured prominent artists and popular faces in art, cinema, music and literature.
GSP Children’s Literature, Art & Music Festival (18th – 20th November 2022)
Three days of fun-filled on-ground extravaganza for children, GSP’s Children Literature, Art & Music Festival was also held in Bhopal. The festival organised world-class shows like- storytelling, author interactions, theatre workshops, clowning and different art workshops on calligraphy, pottery, mandala, origami, doodling, dance and music concert by renowned artists and professionals in each sector. The workshops were enjoyed by kids between the age group of 4-14 years. More than 15000 children & parents visited the festival and took part in engaging sessions & activities.
The festival hosted renowned names like Monika Santos from Spain, who organised a workshop on clowning, storyteller, Vikram Shridhar and ventriloquism Satyajit Pardhe who field a puppetry workshop. The festival also hosted Shobha Vishwanathan, Publishing Director at Karadi Tales Company Pvt. Ltd, Preeti Vyas – President and CEO, Amar Chitra Katha and Authors Saumya Rajendran & Nandini Nair for unique interactive and fun sessions for children and their parents.
