AS evening spreads its dark mantle over the city, notes of folk instruments accompanying the rhythm of rustic feet cast a magical spell on the audience of City Beautiful. The place where this magic unfolds is Kala Gram, spread over an area of 14.5 acres on the Chandighrh-Panchkula road. It is much more than just an example of impressive architecture.

Artisans display their creations at Kala Gram

This sub-centre of the North Zone Cultural Centre was set up as part of a government scheme aimed at promoting crafts and culture of the country. Work on the first of the three phases of this project was started in 1999 and completed in 2001.The centre became fully operational in May 2001 and since then cultural programmes have been regularly organised there.

Artisans from all over the country who are invited to the village on a regular basis, display their creations at the crafts bazaar held there in the evenings. Folk dance and music programmes held every evening attract large crowds.

The place is imbued with the scent of our rich heritage which is adequately reflected in the rock sculptures that have been put up all over the premises.

It also houses a restaurant and an open air theatre apart from an art gallery and dormitories for artists.The whole project is estimated to have cost around Rs 5 crore.

R.T. Jindal,Director, North Zone Cultural Centre, is at present looking after Kala Gram. He has a skeletal staff to assist him in the herculean task of maintaining the premises. With limited funds and manpower it was indeed a difficult job to make the project a success,said Jindal. With regular cultural activities on at the gram Jindal holds forth the promise of some good entertainment at Kala Gram during the coming festival season. Shoppers also have a lot to look forward to, he added.

According to Jindal, the main objective of the sub-centre is to ‘‘create an environment for the preservation of the traditional crafts which are dying due to the onslaught of industrial products. Craftsmen are allowed to sell directly to the buyer without the involvement of middlemen in the transaction’’.

Craftsmen and not salesmen man the shops at the crafts bazaar so one can be sure of the authenticity of the stuff purchased from here, he said.

Kala Gram provides a platform to artists and craftsmen to display their skills. Residents of the area as also tourists get an opportunity to see master craftsmen at work and to purchase the items they make.

State and national award-winning artisans like Rajendra Prasad Bondwal, Mangar Ram and several others from far off states like Tamil Nadu, Nagaland, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Bihar can be seen at work during their stay at the gram.

India lives in its villages and Kala Gram is an ideal place to get a glimpse of the arts and crafts that are its heartbeat.