In a bid to encourage folk art and culture of the region, a three-day Mainpat Festival has commenced at Mainpat in Surguja district on Tuesday. Urban Administration Minister Dr Shiv Kumar Dahariya and Culture Minister Amarjit Bhagat inaugurated the Mainpat Festival. The three-day festival which is being organised near Ropakhar reservoir in Mainpat will host attractive presentation of Shaila, Karma and other local folk dance and songs performed by the folk artists of Surguja region.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Urban Administration Minister Dr Dahariya said that Mainpat Festival is being organised with the aim of preserving and promoting the natural and cultural heritage of the region. A glimpse of the tribal art culture of Chhattisgarh, and especially Surguja region will be seen in this festival. He further said that such events will give a new identity to the art culture of the region. There are many places of interest in Surguja, in which invaluable historical sites and cultural heritage are present. Buddhist monastery and spirituality are also affluently present in the Mainpat region. The Tibetans here live in harmony and brotherhood with everyone. Tibetan Buddhist Monk Dalai Lama has also visited this region twice, he added.

Minister Dr Dahariya inaugurated and performed bhumipujan of various development and construction works worth Rs 78 crore. He also inspected the exhibition based on departmental achievements and visited the stalls of various departments. Blessings were also given to 350 couples who tied the knot under the Mukhyamantri Samuhik Vivah Yojna organised by the Women and Child Development Department. Six Muktanjali vehicles were also flagged-off during the proogramme. In his address, Culture Minister Amarjit Bhagat said that the Mainpat Festival, which started 8 years ago, has made a unique identity in the country and the state. He further said that after the formation of our government, the work of loan waiver of farmers and purchase of paddy at the highest price in the country was done. Dr Pritam Ram, Chairman of CGMSC, Balkrishna Pathak, President of Chhattisgarh Local Tribal Health Traditions and Vanaushadic Plants Board, Ajay Agarwal, Vice-President of the Twenty Point Program Implementation Committee, Irfan Siddiqui, Member of the State Madrasa Board, member of the State Gau-Seva Commission, Atal Bihari Yadav, Member of Tel Ghani Board Laxmi Gupta, Member of State Seed Certification Board Arvind Gupta, Member of State Urdu Academy Badruddin Iraqi, Member of State Karmakar Mandal Anil Singh and many public representatives, senior administrative officers and a large number of tourists and common citizens were present at the festival.