Chief Minister Raman Singh would inaugurate the three-day annual Sirpur National Dance and Music Festival-2014 beginning on Saturday in the 1,500-year-old laxman Temple complex at Sirpur town in Mahasamund district, officials said.
Singh would proceed from Raipur by a helicopter and reach at the festival site at about 5.30 pm. He is scheduled to lay foundation stones of different construction works and hand over cheques and certificates to beneficiaries of different Government schemes. He is scheduled to inaugurate the festival at about 6.30 pm and stay at the site until 8.30 pm before returning back to the State capital by road.
Well-known singer of Hindustani classical music, Khayal, Thumri and Dadra Shubha Mudgal, Sufi singers and musicians Wadali brothers, Teejan Bai, an exponent of Pandavni, a folk ballad form of Chhattisgarh among other celebrated artistes of national and international fame who will perform at the festival. The Chhattisgarh Tourism Board (CTB) has announced to provide free bus service for all the three days from Raipur for those interested to witness the festival.
The buses will depart from the CTB hotel in Raipur every day at three pm. These buses will return to Raipur every day at 9 pm. This is for the second time that the CTB is organising the dance and music festival at Sirpur. The state’s tourism and Culture Minister Ajay Chandrakar would preside over the inaugural ceremony. The State Government has specially invited Joon-Kyu lee, ambassador of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in India to attend the inaugural function as a guest, officials said.
Sirpur, about 78 kms from state capital Raipur is a small town on the bank of river Mahanadi. It is known for its archeological monuments and is home to the lakshmana Temple, one of the oldest brick temples of India. The festival will be held close to this temple. According to historians, it was an important centre of Buddhist from the 6th the 10th century A.D. and was visited by Hieun Tsang, the 7th century Chinese pilgrimist and scholar.