Himalayan International Festival 2012 has started at Bhurung busty East Sikkim

19thMARCH12

A 3 day Himalayan International Festival has been inaugurated by eminent Lepcha maestro PadmashreeSonamTsheringLepcha.The festival has been organized by Himalayan Heritage Research and Development Society ,Bhurung Busty, East Sikkim in collaboration with Indian Council For Cultural Relations and Ministry of Culture , Govt. of India. The artists from Bhutan, Nepal, Arunachal Pradesh, North Bengal and Sikkim have performed their colorful folk dances.

Himalayan Heritage Research Development Society (HHRDS) is a Sikkim based national NGO registered under Society Registration Act 1860. The Society is dedicated to work of promotion and preservation of performing arts and heritage of Himalayas region since ten years. The HHRDS has its own campus and land at Bhurung Busty, East Sikkim in eastern Himalayas. The HHRDS has collected more than 200 masks, 150 musical instruments, rare manuscripts and other artefacts from Himalayas region and also planned to set up a museum of cultural heritage and artefacts of Himalayas region.

The festival exploring to make harmony and unity through cultural voice and with this aim in view aninternational level festival – ‘Himalaya InternationalFestival’ has been planned to organise as an annual event.

The designer of the festival Dr. O.P Bharti told at inaugural function that the event has planned for the showcasing of Himalayan culture and provide platform to make cultural dialogues to make harmony and fraternity among the Himalayan states as well as countries. The festival has been divided into National and International segments. From India the artists of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Sikkim, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and North Bengal & Sikkim have been invited. For the International segments the scholars & artists from Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar have planned to invite. The performance will be followed by the Seminar on 19^th march .