Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan kicks off the more than 2-month-long festival.
A cultural festival showcasing a multitude of Indian art forms ‘Namasté France’ was inaugurated in Paris, on September 15th. The festival, supported by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, New Delhi, and the Indian Embassy in France, will go on till November 30th of this year.
Namaste France festival was inaugurated by Dr. Mohan Kumar, Ambassador of India to France, at La Villette in Paris.
“No two countries share such a special cultural relationship as France and India, while both countries are proud of their culture, they are open to the appreciation of other cultures. Namaste France is a wonderful opportunity to boost the vitality of our cultural exchanges. It is a reflection of the growing partnership between the two countries,” said Kumar, speaking at the iinauguration.
Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan with his sons Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash and Kathak exponent Kumudini Lakhia, and her troupe, enthralled the Parisians, at the inauguration. More than 2,000 people attended the inaugural event and were mesmerized by the visual grandeur of the opening ceremony.
During the festival, 70 events representing India’s rich civilizational and cultural heritage will be organized in various major cities of France, including Strasbourg, Nice, Nantes, Marseilles, Lyon, Aix-en-Provence, Saint-Tropez, Tourcoing, Paris, and in the French overseas territories like Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Martin and the Reunion Island.
The events and the scale of the festival will reflect the rapid transformations taking place in India which have seen modernization in recent years while not losing its cultural roots.