Agra: The Taj Mahotsav 2023 in Uttar Pradesh's Agra will begin on Monday at Shilpgram near the eastern gate of the Taj Mahal with noted singers and artists mesmerising the visitors at the 10-day extravaganza. The Taj Mahotsav, which was slightly postponed from Feb. 18 to Feb. 20, will end on March 1.
Star performances- Noted singers Amit Mishra, Maithili Thakur, Pawandeep Rajan Arunita, Kinjal Sachet and Parampara will be performing at the Taj Mahotsav in Agra. Amit Mishra will perform on the opening day today while the Indian Ocean band will perform on Feb. 21, Tuesday.
Sachet Tandon, Warsi Brothers (Qawwals), Sadho Band, and Pawandeep Rajan and Arunita Kanjilal will perform on Feb. 22, 23, 24 and 25 respectively. This will be followed by a fashion show of World Designing Forum on Feb. 26. Singers Maithili Thakur and Khete Khan will perform at the Mahotsav on Feb. 27 and 28, respectively, while Harshdeep Kaur will perform on the concluding day of the event on March 1.
On Feb. 27, Padma Shri Sumitra Guha of Faridabad will perform at the event. Bharatanatyam performance by French dancer and Padma Shri awardee Devyani will be the main attraction at the closing ceremony on March 1. Avinash Chandra Mishra, Joint Director of Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department, said that there will be cultural programs every evening at the Taj Mahotsav in which famous singers of Bollywood will perform along with local artists. Like every year, this year also there will be cultural programs in Shilpgram's Muktakashi Manch as well as in Surasadan Auditorium and Sadar Bazar.
Ticket- The entry ticket cost has been fixed as Rs 50 per individual and no charges for children below 5 and foreigners who have already taken special ticket for Taj Mahal. Besides, there will be special rebate for a group of 100 students in school uniform, with the the ticket price being Rs 500 for the group. Two teachers will be permitted to enter along with the school children group. No separate ticket will have to be taken for cultural programs at the Mahotsav.
Also read: Taj Mahotsav 2023: New dates for 'Mini India' event announced; to begin on Feb. 20
Theme- The theme of Taj Mahotsav is 'World Brotherhood and G20'. Sushil Sarit has written the theme song 'Lekar man mein bhav vishwa bandhutva ka, humne prem ke sada tarane gaye hain...' for the event. It has been composed by Ghazal singer Sudhir Narayan.
What will be on sale? Craftsmen from different states of the country have set up stalls of their products to promote the respective crafts. They include glass products from Firozabad, pottery from Khurja, zardozi and marble products from Agra as well as woodcraft from Saharanpur, suits and pashmina shawls from Kashmir, terracotta from Faridabad, Kantha saree from West Bengal and Varanasi.
There will also be stalls of silk sarees, silk of Bihar, chikan cloth of Lucknow, crochet of Andhra Pradesh, patri of Khurja, cane furniture of Assam. Food stalls of dishes from UP, Bihar, Punjab, Kerala and other states have also been set up at the Taj Mahotsav. It is held at Agra every year since 1992.
The Mahotsav was not organized in the year 2021 due to Corona induced lockdown. Last year, the Taj Mahotsav was postponed to March 20-29 in view of assembly elections. This year also the event was slightly postponed due to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's birth anniversary celebrations at Agra Fort and Shah Jahan's Urs.
