The fifth edition of the much-awaited annual Pondicherry Heritage Festival will begin on January 27. The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), People for Pondicherry’s Heritage (PPH) and PondyCan began organising the festival in 2015 after the collapse of the iconic Mairie building in 2014.
Addressing a press conference at Alliance Francaise, Sunaina Mandeen, co-founder of PondyCan, said that originally conceived as a means of drawing attention to the need to conserve Puducherry’s outstanding architectural legacy, the festival has expanded its scope to embrace all intangible traditions.
The town boasts of a diverse built environment, an idyllic seaside natural setting, a rich spiritual and intellectual history, and fascinating combination of indigenous and imported cultural practices. It is the interplay of these factors that gives Pondicherry its distinctive flavour. The emphasis for this year’s festival will be on Puducherry’s splendid natural heritage, including the coast, rivers, waterbodies, wetlands, and forests.
Kakoli Banerjee of PPH said “The main objective of the festival was to showcase and celebrate everything beautiful from our past that our previous generation has left for us. Anything which connects us to our past is an unique identity.”
The festival will open with a creative expression by schoolchildren – understanding Puducherry’s heritage and participating in its preservation at the art and craft village at Murungapakkam on Tuesday.
Raphael Mathevet, Head of the Department of Ecology at the French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP), said that on February 2 a birdwatching trip will be held to the Oussudu Lake for identifying wintering birds. The event will be held as part of the festival to commemorate the World Wetlands Day.
Mr. Mathevet said wetlands photo contest was organised on the theme ‘Wetlands and Climate Change’ under different categories. Around 80 persons have submitted entries and the winners have already been selected by the jury. The results will be announced on February 2 at the IFP with three prizes in each category.
A. Arul, Architect from Intach, said that proposals had been submitted for restoration of the old light house on the Beach Road to the Central Public Works Department. A street event has also been planned on February 2. The stretch on Eswaran Kovil Street from Grand Canal Street to Mission Street junction will be blocked with events for kids. Beginning from February 1 to 11, a culinary trail of the town will also be held.
People can look forward to the exhibition and sale of Puducherry products at the craft bazaar near Gandhi Thidal from February 1 to 5.
Satish Nallam, president of Alliance Francaise, Ashok Panda, co-convenor of Intach, Radha Srinivasan, Raje and Bitasta Samantray of PPH, Dipin Desai, Director, Marketing of Hidesign, were present.
