Cholistan festival concludes at Lok Virsa

Indigenous craftsmen showed off unique skills and impressed their audience at the three-day cultural festival.

ISLAMABAD: The three-day cultural festival at National Institute of Folk & Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa) depicting the indigenous culture of Cholistan desert concluded on Monday.

Over 100 participants including craftsman, folk artists, musicians and camel dancers from Cholistan took part in the festival which ran from Oct 30 to Nov 1. The festival aimed to entertain while exposing the capital’s population to Cholistan’s culture.

A performance pit was erected in the middle of the festival grounds where folk singers, artists, musicians and dancers from Cholistan gave periodic performances.

Lajpat Ray, a stall holder from Tharparkar, said, “My visit has been very successful both in terms of entertainment and finances, I sold all my shawls and ralhis.”

Aziz Bibi, who works for women welfare in Cholistan, set up stalls of traditional foods like saag (Spinach) and khunmbi which she presented to Federal Minister for Culture, Secretary for Ministry of Culture and other diplomatic visitors.

Krishan Lal Bheel, an accomplished folk singer from Cholistan, said that he could sing in eight languages, including Seraiki, Marwari, Thari, Sindhi, Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi. He plays instruments like iktara, harmonium, majira, tamboora and chhapri. He also says he has recorded more than 500 songs for Radio Lahore and Radio Bahawalpur. He Krishan, who has also been appearing in PTV since 1988 is a recipient of several awards conferred by the government including Minority Award.

Another skill on display was the cutting of camel hair. Muhammad Hanif is a unique artisan from the Cholistan region is a craftsman of camel hair. With the help of a pair of scissors, he cuts out the camel’s hair in such a way the geometrical designs are imprinted.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2010.