100 folk artistes participate in Virasat Sanjhi Utsav
The Virasat Sanjhi Utsav 2024 was organised at Virasat The Heritage Village, Kurukshetra, from October 2 to 11. More than 100 folk artistes participated in the Sanjhi-making competition. During the festival, over 1,000 students from schools and colleges visited the heritage village and experienced folk culture through Sanjhi. Dr Maha Singh Poonia, convener of the Virasat Sanjhi Utsav, stated that the event was organised under the aegis of the Department of Art and Cultural Affairs, Haryana. He highlighted that Sanjhi was a vanishing folk art of Haryana.
He added that the first prize in the Virasat Sanjhi competition, amounting to Rs 51,000, was awarded to Meenakshi from Hisar. The second prize of Rs 31,000 was given to Radha Rani from Palwal district and the third prize of Rs 21,000 was awarded to Sita Devi from Karnal. Dr Poonia also mentioned that the fourth prize of Rs 11,000 went to Sukhwinder Kaur from Habana village and the fifth prize of Rs 5,100 was given to Rajnish Kaur from Sarai Sukhi, Kurukshetra. The sixth prize of Rs 3,100 was awarded to Kajal from Kaithal, while cash prizes of Rs 2,100 were given to five participants: Smita Raj, Anshu, Rekha, Kusum, and Muskan, in the Sanjhi competition.
Dr Poonia further said 10 participants, who secured the eighth position, were each awarded Rs 1,100. These participants were Dimple, Vaishali, Seema, Sunita Devi, Ishika, Anchal, Saroj Devi, Sudesh, Rani, Jyoti Jain, Neha, and Anita. He emphasised that Sanjhi was a dying art of northern India and ‘Virasat’ ‘The Heritage Village’ organised the 10-day Sanjhi festival to promote the dying art of Haryana.
He also informed that a special award of Rs 21,000 was given for the world’s largest Sanjhi. Artist Gautam Satyaraj, a resident of Dighana village in Jind district, was recognised for creating the world’s largest Sanjhi, covering 500 square ft with a height of 25 ft and a width of 20 ft. Last year, he created a 20-ft Sanjhi in the Virasat festival. This year, he broke his own record by creating a 25-ft Sanjhi, capturing everyone’s attention.
