The world’s been shrinking, and like people, it’s become a little easier for cultures to travel too. Suddenly, countries and traditions from across the world seem familiar, and the eagerness to understand them comes with the possibility of opportunities to do exactly that.
It’s with this bid to bring together and familiarise the people of Malaysia with Indian culture that the High Commission of India and the Indian Cultural Centre Kuala Lumpur (ICCKL) have organised the first Festival of India in Malaysia.
Malaysia has already been experiencing the Year of Festivals with MYFEST 2015. The Festival of India, being held in conjunction with MYFEST, will cover several cultural events and showcase a veritable feast of culture and art from India. The line-up includes classical performances and folk dances, movie screenings and photography exhibitions, food fairs and art shows, among several other attractions. It will run between March 13 and end-June 2015 and cover all major cities of Malaysia, including Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Georgetown, Sungai Petani, Seremban, Melaka, Johor Bahru, Kota Bahru, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. With 19 categories of events and 50 locations across the country, it aims to bring a kaleidoscopic view of Indian culture and heritage to Malaysia’s population.
To cover both classical and contemporary ground, the spectrum has been widened to include everything from folk dances of Punjab and Gujarat to a multimedia exhibition on Bollywood Over the Years . Photo exhibitions on the Grandeur of Chola Temples and Chennai Nalla Chennai another one on Islamic calligraphy from the Raisa Library, and an exhibition by the National Archives of India, India-Malaysia: Over the Ages , as well as a food festival, a seminar on Make in India , a commemorative event on the International Day of Yoga and a Tamil literary festival with six eminent Tamil authors from India — the festival includes all this and much more.
Cultivating not just a cultural familiarisation but also people-to-people links, the festival will hold events to underline the historical as well as contemporary links between India and Malaysia. Bringing to Malaysia some of the best performers and institutes, like Kalakshetra from Chennai, Bharatanatyam dancer Alarmel Valli and Prathibha Prahlad’s Prasiddha Foundation, the festival will offer a glimpse of the effort and excellence that preserves art forms in India. Covering several disciplines, the festival will include veteran authors, artists, painters, musicians and actors.
With a programme that promises a grand few months, the festival kicks off today at the Civic Centre Auditorium in Kuala Lumpur with the dance drama “Kannapar Kuravanji” by Kalakshetra Chennai.
For more information, visit http://www.icckl.com.my/
