Insight into the life of Dard Aryans
To educate masses about this tribe from Ladakh, their unique cultural legacy and struggle to preserve their identity, IGNCA organised ‘Aryan Utsav’ in the Capital.
Apart from being the most desired travel destination in India, Ladakh – known as the "land of high passes", is also home to a tribe called 'Dard Aryans'. With a view of educating the masses about their unique cultural legacy and struggle to preserve their identity, The Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts organised 'Aryan Utsav' in the Capital, from January 16-25 at IGNCA itself.
The culturally engaging event, curated by Virendra Bangroo, comprised of the glimpses from various aspects of their tribal life – through paintings, music, dance, and many other things – in order to provide the artists – a platform to see the outside world. Giving an idea about their socio-cultural and religious life, the exhibition was divided into six segments – geographical, religion, architecture, agricultural, festivals and children's paintings.
The Centre invited 30 artists and scholars of the 'Dard Aryan' community from Leh and Kargil regions. Under the festival organised at IGNCA, an exhibition was inaugurated by N N Vohra, President, India International Centre, and Former Governor, Jammu, and Kashmir, along with Dr Sonal Mansingh, Trustee, IGNCA and Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha.
Following which, a series of cultural performances were organised. And, a seminar was also held on January 18, which was inaugurated by Sudarshan Bhagat, Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs. At the seminar, about 18 papers were presented by scholars from Dard Aryan community as well as scholars working in the field.
Dr Ramesh C Gaur, Director and Head Kalanidhi, IGNCA was the one who directed and coordinated the event. Talking to Millennium Post about the new project of IGNCA, he said: "We came across this idea when Virendra Bangroo (curator of the event) visited the regions of the Dard Aryan community back in 2017. There, he helped in setting up two museums to archive cultural heritage of the tribe in their regions." Dr Gaur also revealed that a lecture was organised by IGNCA in March 2018, on the basis of which, it was considered important to showcase the traditions and heritage of the tribe to a wide audience.
Addressing the impact of the event on Delhi's audience, Dr Sachidanand Joshi, Member Secretary, IGNCA, remarked: "Overall, there was a very good response from the audience to the Aryan Utsav. All the programmes, including exhibition, seminar and cultural performances were well attended by scholars and the public."
Moreover, the organisers said that the 'Aryan Utsav' was first of its kind event held in Delhi, where the community showcased their art, crafts, and cultural traditions. Also, they believe that the festival helped in spreading the awareness about the tribe and further benefited both the community and audience to know about each other.
IGNCA has declared that they will further plan a follow-up event in Leh and Kargil regions of Dard Aryan community by focussing more on capacity building and promotional activities.
