Stall construction on war footing at three main venues
Preparations on in full swing for Sangai Fest
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, November 15 2017: With less than a week to go, preparation is on in full swing for the Manipur Sangai Festival, with the Government repairing roads and beautifying Imphal and stalls being constructed on a war footing.

An official source said 525 stalls are under construction at three main venues at the cost of Rs 1.14 crore.

The three main venues for the festival, which will be held from November 21 to 30, include Hapta Kangjeibung, Lamboi Khongnangkhong and Khuman Lampak.

Among the various foreign dignitaries who have been invited for the 10-day fest through the embassies, two of them, from Zimbabwe and Thailand, till now have confirmed their participation.

At the domestic level, cultural troupes from Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Tripura etc.

will be performing several shows.

The official source asserted that a curtain raiser to the Manipur Sangai Festival will be held at the abode of Sangais, Keibul Lamjao and the Government is making arrangement for the event.

The Manipur Industrial Development Corporation (MANIDCO) Limited is managing the construction of stalls at the three venues.

Out of the 525 stalls, 490 of them will be used as exhibition stalls and the remaining 35 as cultural, police and other related stalls.

Initially, MANIDCO had presented an estimate of Rs 1.37 crore for the stall construction expenditure at the three venues but it went down to Rs 1,14,25,331 .

Last year, there were 336 stalls but under the instruction of the Government of Manipur, it has been increased to 525 and the construction is expected to be completed by Nov 17 after which allotment will be given.

With the objectives of Swachh Bharat Mission, the Government is also preparing to make cleanliness a priority in the festival and monitor the venues closely.

Meanwhile, the Department of Tourism is installing one hot air balloon each at the three venues.

The source further informed that the Department of Art and Culture is responsible for looking after Hapta Kangjeibung while the Youth Affairs and Sports is keeping an eye on Khluman Lampak, and the Textiles, Commerce and Industries Department is managing the shows at Lamboi Khongnangkhong.

Besides the troupes from several States across India, the Manipur Sangai Festival will also offer a range of cultural programmes that will be performed by representatives of different ethnic groups in the State.

One of the highlights of the festival will be the opening ceremony that will commence at 4pm on Nov 21 in the presence of President of India, Ram Nath Kovind at the Bhagyachandra Open Air Theatre.

The ceremony will be followed by cultural programmes at 4.30 pm.

The cultural programmes will be held till Nov 29 every day at the three main venues.

For the pleasure of the visitors, a Shumang Leela festival will be held at the Iboyaima Shumang Leela Sanglen from Nov 22 to 29.From Nov 25 to 29, the 3rd Sangai International Film Festival will be held at the Manipur State Film Development Society auditorium.

At the Dave Literature Centre, DM College Campus, a series of symposia will be held on Manipuri culture from Nov 22 to 26 .

As the Manipur Sangai Festival approaches, blacktopping and pothole mending works are at their height these days.

The road medians in several Greater Imphal areas are getting fresh paints of black and white and the Government is also getting ready to instal two statues of Sangais, one at Palace Gate and another near Imphal Airport.

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