Vishwakarma Vatika will be set up at Hunar Haats to promote traditional skills of artisans: Union Minister

New Delhi, Oct 14: “Vishwakarma Vatika” will be set up at “Hunar Haats”, to promote and preserve precious traditional skills of artisans and craftsmen where they will also be displaying live how India’s traditional exquisite and elegant indigenous handmade products are made. Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Thursday that the first such “Vishwakarma Vatika”, which has been set up in “Hunar Haat” at Rampur, Uttar Pradesh to protect, preserve and promote India’s glorious legacy of centuries-old skills and craftsmanship, will be inaugurated by Union Minister for Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan on October 16 in the august presence of Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Culture Arjun Ram Meghwal. Proficient craftsmen, sculptors, stonemasons, blacksmiths, carpenters, potter and other artisans from across the country, will give live demonstrations of hundreds of India’s traditional art and craft at one place in these "Vishwakarma Vatika". Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in “Mann Ki Baat” on “Vishwakarma Jayanti”, had said that, “The one who takes all efforts in the process of creating and building is a “Vishwakarma”. In the view of our scriptures, all the skilled, talented people around us engaged in the process of creation and building are the legacy of “Bhagwan Vishwakarma”. Our lives without such individuals would be unfathomable”. Modi had said that, ‘’Look around yourself; be it an ironsmith, a potter, a carpenter, an electrician, a house painter, a sanitation worker, or someone who repairs mobile-laptops. All of them are known only because of their skill. In modern form, all of them are also Vishwakarma.’’ Talking to the media persons Naqvi said that the Union Ministry for Minority Affairs is organising “Hunar Haat” in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh from October 16 to 25 as a part of series of 75 "Hunar Haat", to be organised across the country under "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav" to celebrate 75 years of India’s Independence. Naqvi said that about 700 artisans and craftsmen from more than 30 States and Union Territories including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Nagaland, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Ladakh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu-Kashmir, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have brought their indigenous products made with wood, brass, bamboo, glass, cloth, paper, clay etc at “Hunar Haat”, being organised at Numaish Ground, Panwaria in Rampur. The Minister said that besides "Vocal for Local", the upcoming "Hunar Haats" will also be based on the theme of "Best from Waste". Exquisite products made from used and discarded items in households such as plastic, paper, ply, wood, glass, ceramic, jute, cotton, wool as well as banana stems, sugarcane pulp, paddy and wheat straw-stems, husk, Tur, rubber, iron, brass, etc will be available in “Hunar Haat” for sale and display. He said that the people will also enjoy traditional food from almost every corner of the country under one roof at "Bawarchikhana" section in the "Hunar Haat". The people will enjoy traditional foods from the regions and states such as Awadh, Rampur, Hyderabad, Maharashtra, Goa, Bihar, Rajasthan, North-East, Odisha, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, New Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Mysuru etc. Naqvi also said that renowned artists such as Pankaj Udhas, Anu Kapoor, Sudesh Bhosle, Kumar Sanu, Vinod Rathore, Altaf Raja, Nizami Brothers, Vivek Mishra, Neelam Chauhan, Rekha Raj, Prem Bhatia, Bhupendra Singh Bhuppi, Nooran Sisters, Junior Mehmood will enthral the audience with their musical, cultural programmes in the evening every day at the "Hunar Haat" in Rampur. He stated that “Hunar Haat” has become a “credible platform” to strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for “Swadeshi-Swavlamban” and “Vocal for Local” and providing market to indigenous products of traditional artisans and craftsmen. Naqvi said that during the last about 6 years, more than 5 lakh 50 thousand artisans, craftsmen and people associated with them have been provided employment and employment opportunities through “Hunar Haat”. Target has been set to provide employment and employment opportunities to lakhs of more artisans, craftsmen through 75 “Hunar Haat” under “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”. Naqvi said that “Hunar Haat” will also depict, in an artistic manner, the history and role played by great freedom fighters of that particular region where “Hunar Haat” will be organised. Naqvi informed that after Rampur, "Hunar Haat" will be organised at Dehradun (October 29 to November 7), Lucknow ( November 12 to 21 ), Hyderabad (November 26 to December 5), Surat ( December 10 to 19), New Delhi (December 22 to January 02, 2022). “Hunar Haat” will also be organised in Mysuru, Guwahati, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Patna, Puducherry, Mumbai, Jammu, Chennai, Chandigarh, Agra, Prayagraj, Goa, Jaipur, Bengaluru, Kota, Sikkim, Srinagar, Leh, Shillong, Ranchi, Agartala and other places in the coming days.