Tamil Nadu   

“Government keen to promote folk art forms”

Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

exchanging pleasantries: Tourism Minister N. Suresh Rajan, Labour Welfare Minister T.M. Anbarasan and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi with foreign tourists at the inaugural of the annual dance festival at Mamallapuram on Friday. —

Mamallapuram: The 31-day Mamallapuram dance festival organised by the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) got off to a glittering start on Friday with more than 100 nagaswaram performers greeting foreign tourists and a scintillating solo dance performance by Nartaki Nataraj, a transgender. This year’s festival will have four performances, a combination of folk and classical dances of south India, everyday.

Inaugurating the festival, the State Tourism and Registration Minister, N. Suresh Rajan, said the Government was keen to promote rural and traditional folk art forms as a continuation of the Chennai Sangamam.

He said Mamallapuram attracted over 1.35 lakh foreign tourists till November-end and more than 10.57 lakh domestic tourists.

Labour Welfare and Employment Minister, T.M. Anbarasan, said the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam regime was committed to promoting rural tourism and all art forms.

A sculptor park at a cost of Rs.10 crore and a Rs.4.5-crore bus terminus would come up at Mamallapuram as part of the world heritage site developmental initiatives.

Lighting a traditional lamp to mark the inauguration, Kanimozhi, Rajya Sabha MP, said people of South India and Tamil Nadu in particular appreciated varied art forms. The festival would go a long way in furthering the cultural ethos of the country.

Kancheepuram Collector Santosh K. Misra said Mamallapuram dance festival would put Tamil Nadu in the global tourism map.

Director of Tourism and Managing Director of TTDC, M. Rajaram, and a host of Members of Legislative Assembly and local party functionaries participated.

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