Sikkim bagged first and second position in Kala Utsav competition

GANGTOK,: Sikkim secured first position in 3D sculpture category and second position in traditional folk category of instrumental music in the recently held national Kala Utsav competition.

Tshering Lhendup Lepcha’s carving of traditional musical instrument won him the first position, while Samdup Lepcha performed a Lepcha folk music. Both Tshering and Samdup are from Mangan, informs a press release.

The national level competition for Kala Utsav began virtually on January 1 and concluded on January 12. All States, Union Territories and Kendriya Vidyalayas took part in this competition. The valedictory function and award ceremony was attended by Union Minister of State for Education.

This is the first time Sikkim secured first and second positions at the national level. Previously, Sikkim had bagged third positions on two occasions.  

State Education minister K.N. Lepcha, Education additional chief secretary G.P. Upadhyaya, Samagra Shiksha SPD Bhim Thatal, Secondary Education director Hondala Gyaltsen and the entire family of Education department congratulated the winners, and nodal officer and the Samagra Shiksha team at the State level for having conducted this programme even during the holidays.

The additional chief secretary and the Samagra Shiksha SPD offered special thanks to the jury members who were personally involved in the selection process and trained the participants for performing at the national level.

Kala Utsav is an initiative of the Ministry of Education, Government of India to promote arts in education, by nurturing and showcasing the artistic talent of school students in the country. It is an art festival which includes performances and display of exhibits. It helps the students to explore, understand and showcase their artistic talent of practicing different art forms.  It was launched in the year 2015 with the objective to create awareness about India’s rich cultural heritage and its vibrant diversity among the students. Samagra Shiksha under the Education department conducts this event every year.

Like previous year, Kala Utsav was conducted virtually at the national Level. However, at the district level, it was conducted physically at suitable venues in all the districts of Sikkim maintaining all Covid-19 protocol. The State level selection was done virtually from four different venues in the respective districts and centralized venue at the State level on December 1-2.

This year, Kala Utsav was held on nine different art forms which included traditional vocal music, dance both folk and classical, instrumental music folk and classical, 2D and 3D painting and indigenous toys and games. From among the 33 participants who made their entry to the State-level from all the districts, a total of 12 participants were selected for the participation at the national level competition, the release mnetions.