By Sachin Murdeshwar

New Delhi: Manipur Tourism organized the curtain-raiser of the upcoming Manipur Sangai Festival at Select City Walk Mall at Saket, New Delhi today. The event showcased the varied attracts of the festival scheduled from 21 to 30 November, 2018. Hon’ble MP, Rajya Sabha, Govt. of India and Padma Bhushan Awardee, Mary Kom; Former Boxing World Champion and Arjuna Awardee, Ms. Sarita Laishram along with the Former Indian Football Captain, Shri P. Renedy Singh and Guinness World Record holder in Limbo Skating, Master Tiluck Keisham promoted the event at the city. Officials from Manipur Tourism along with its stakeholders shared updates on the preparations for the largest tourism festival of the state during the event.

The festival takes its name from the state’s unique, shy and gentle brow-antlered Sangai Deer (Dancing Deer). The Sangai Deer is found only in Manipur’s floating Keibul Lamjao National Park, at Loktak Lake. The festival has great profundity in showcasing its rich art and cultural heritage and celebrating the various ethnic diversities of Manipur.

Dr. Sapam Ranjan, Chairman, Tourism Corporation Manipur Ltd. stated that the festival will be inaugurated at Imphal, the capital city of Manipur on 21st November 2018. Two other districts; Bishnupur and Senapati districts of Manipur will also play host to the festival and have a line-up of events ranging from half-marathons, water-sports and trekking to other adventure activities.

Taking the festival as an opportunity, we are here to connect with our potential stakeholders in the capital city. We wish to invite them to come to our state and enjoy our cultural extravaganza. Manipur holds a great many surprises for every visitor. The profound natural beauty of our state and the unique attractions that we have like the floating national park of Keibul Lamjao and Sangai are found nowhere else in the world, added the Chairman.

A variety of dance forms of over 34 recognised tribes of Manipur will be the special attraction of this mega tourism event. The main venue of the festival at Hapta Kangjeibung, Imphal entertains visitors with mesmerising performances of renowned artists from all over the world every evening. The famous Raas Leela dance of Manipur is a must watch amongst the variety of performances by folk dance artistes.

 

“Manipur receives the maximum number of visitors during this time of the year when we celebrate our biggest tourism festival.  The curtain raiser for this festival is organised in Delhi to create awareness amongst potential visitors about the state’s offerings as a tourist destination. Manipur is largely unexplored and offers huge opportunities for adventure, culture and rural tourism aficionados,” said Shri W. Ibohal Singh, Director (Tourism), Government of Manipur.

“Our state present huge opportunities for adventure tourism and we are exploring opportunities to associate with domestic and international adventure tourism associations. It is the right time for us to inform travellers in the region that our state is ready to welcome you all to Manipur Sangai Festival – the grandest tourism festival of the state,” he added.

A variety of performances like the famed Raas Leela, Khamba Thoibi Dance, Kabui Naga Dance, Thang Ta Show (Martial Arts of Manipur), Pung Cholom and Dhol Cholom formed part of the showcase of Manipur’s rich cultural heritage at the event at Select City Walk Mall, Saket. Master Tiluck Keisham’s Limbo Skating show formed part of the special attraction of the event. The event also saw the participation of travel agents and tour operator associations from Delhi. Air Asia sponsored two tickets (Delhi-Imphal-Delhi) for a couple as prize for the online promotional campaign of Manipur Sangai Festival 2018.

The state is considered one of the safest states for women and has a women only market where many businesswomen run their small vegetable stalls till late at night. The domestic tourist inflow was 1,16,652 in 2010-11, in 2017-18 this figure increased to 1,64,483. Similarly, the foreign tourist inflow increased manifold from 431 in 2010-11 to 3,787 in 2017-18.