The Indian Embassy in Jakarta launched ‘Festival of India’ in Indonesia on 16th October 2009. The event is being organized with support of the ‘Cultural Relations Council of the Indian Cultural and Tourism Department’ and will last till July 2010. Though the main event will start on 29 October, a curtain raiser for the event was held on 16th October, in Four Seasons Hotel's ballroom. The festival will showcase classical and folk music, theater, dance and visual art, culinary feasts and fashion shows in more than six major cities in Indonesia.
On the occasion, Biren Nanda, Indian Ambassador to Indonesia, told that after many years, a festival on this scale was being organized. The Ambassador said that their aim was to involve more and more Indonesian participants in the event. He added that the troupes had been chosen from the Indonesian perspective and they were going to have scores of performers this time. Among the high-profile artists set to charm local audience will be vocalist Pandit Jasraj, veena and guitar player Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, tabla player Tanmoy Bose, dancer Ananda Shankar Jayant, film and theater director Rajat Kapoor, designers Tarun Tahliani and Malini Ramani, and celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor, all from India.
Not only Indian performers, but some Indonesian artists have been encouraged by Indian Embassy to perform in the festival, in collaboration with Indian artists. A dance-drama based on an episode from the Mahabharata - by Didik Nini Thowok, the Karinding Collaborative Project's blend of Javanese and Hindustani music, and Indian and Indonesian designers' take on each other's fabrics and prints will come under such collaboration performances and will surely be popular amongst the local visitors.
