9-11 FEBRUARY 2014-LAO PDR MINISTRY OF CULTURE, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CULTURE, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA Design: [email protected] MESSAGE Festivals of India abroad give wonderful opportunities for the Indian Diaspora to rejuvenate their hereditary cultural inclinations. I am glad that Festival of India is happening in Lao PDR where large number of artists and artisans are participating. I take this opportunity to compliment the officials of Ministry of Culture and its various participating organisations that have made lot of efforts in putting together this colourful extravaganza. I extend a very warm invitation to the people of Lao PDR to come in large numbers and enjoy the cultural feast being organised for them. I wish the Festival of India in Lao PDR a grand success. 13 January, 2014 (CHANDRESH KUMARI KATOCH) Buddh Mahotsava, Sand Mandala organised as part of A Mandala is a cosmic diagram that represents the dwelling place or celestial mansion of this, will witness the a deity. Both the deity, who reside in the mandala and the mandala itself, are recognized as construction of Sand pure expressions of Buddha’s fully enlightened mind. Mandala can be visualized, painted or Mandala, Butter Sculpture, constructed with wood, precious jewels, rice, flower and the like. Sand is considered to be Sacred Dance and Lama a superb medium because of its number and the great skill required to create the Mandala’s Dhamma Talks, Meditation, Chant by the monks from exquisite details. The artist will chant before starting the Mandala creation. Then the blue the Himalayan region. print of the Mandala’s design is outlined and the artist begins constructing the Mandala and Chanting This is conducted from the center to outward. The coloured sand is applied through a metal funnel, called especially in those parts Chakpu. In general, all Mandala have outer, inner, and secret meanings. On the outer level, The celebrated land of saints and seers, India has played the role of the “Jagad Guru”, especially in the field of the world where the they represent the world in its divine form; on the inner level, they represent a map by which of spirituality, for centuries. Among the many , Buddhism, founded in 500 BC by Buddha Sakya Muni, is one Buddha’s messages have the ordinary human mind is transformed into the enlightened mind; and on the secret level, among the prominent schools and sects. Buddha’s teachings, based on non-violence, universal peace and not been thoroughly truth, flourished in India. And later, by the 3rd Century BC, it began to spread throughout South Asia. disseminated in earlier By the 7th Century AD, having spread throughout East Asia and South East Asia, Buddhism probably had centuries. the largest religious following in the world. The history stands testimony to the fact that wherever Buddhism had marked its presence, it brought the message of harmony, non-violence and peace, in a succinct manner. It is therefore, the responsibility of India and its people to make a contribution to the present world by spreading the message of peace, non-violence and truth, as propagated by the Buddha. Hence, it becomes the golden opportunity to bring the message of the Buddha to the world at large, through Buddh Mahotsava, conducted as part of the Festival of India organised under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India. The Festival of India is organised by the Ministry in countries across the world, with a view to facilitate and encourage cooperation in the realms of art and culture, education, including academic activity in the field of science and technology, public health, mass media of information and education. percussion instrument like cymbals. Cham is often they predict the primordially perfect balance of the subtle energy of the body and the clear light dimension of mind. depicts incidents from the life of Padmasambhava, The creation of a sand painting is said to affect purification and healing on these three levels. Mandalas are created the 9th century teacher and other saints. In India for rituals of initiation and for meditations; it is also created to purify the environment and its inhabitants to bring Cham is performed in Himalayan region like Ladakh, healing energy and promote harmony in the world. Since sand Mandalas are created in the spirit of impermanence Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and and non-attachment, after they are completed, the Mandalas are dismantled with a ceremony and the blessed sand Arunachal Pradesh, during cultural and religious is offered to the body of water for the benefit of marine life, the environment and all sentient beings. festivals. Butter Sculpture Lama Chant Butter sculptures are an ancient Tibetan/Himalayan Buddhist art, dating back to the 15th century. These sculptures Buddhist chants are a form of musical verse or means of preparing the mind for meditation are traditionally made out of coloured butter, which is shaped into beautiful coloured sculpture. Butter sculptures incantation. They exist in just about every part of especially as part of formal practice (in either are made for offering to enlightened beings with an eatable substance in decorative form to accumulate merit in mass the Buddhist world, from the Wats in Thailand to the a lay or monastic context). Some forms of form to bring peace, prosperity and good luck to individuals and society. The tradition was passed on from generation Tibetan Buddhist temples in India and Tibet. Almost Buddhism also use chanting for ritualistic to generation, and even today, dozens of monks work for months on a single giant butter sculpture to be displayed every Buddhist school has some tradition of chanting purposes. In the Vajrayana tradition, chanting and offered on the 15th day or full moon of the 1st lunar month as Losar the New Year celebration, to mark the associated with it, regardless of being Theravada or is also used as an invocative ritual in order to miracle performed by Lord Buddha. Buddh Mahotsava will feature a live demonstration of a butter sculpture being Mahayana. In Buddhism, chanting is the traditional set one’s mind on a deity’s Tantric ceremony, made, and will end with a traditional ceremony of presenting Mandala or particular concept one wishes to the finished sculptures. further in themselves. Himalayan Buddhist monks are noted for their skill at throat- Cham (Sacred Dance) singing, a specialized form of chanting in which, The Cham (sacred dance) is a lively masked and costumed by amplifying the voice’s upper partials, the dance associated with Mahayana sect of Buddhism, and chanter can produce multiple distinct pitches is part of Buddhist Festival. The dance is accompanied by simultaneously. music played by monks using traditional instruments. The dance often offer moral instructions relating to the act of compassion for all sentient beings and is held to bring merit to all who perceive them. Cham dances are considered a form of meditation, and an offering to the deities. The leader of the Cham is typically a musician, keeping time using some Classical dance on Jatayu moksham ramayana The India Festival will feature classical dance performances, based on celebrated Indian Epic-the Ramayana. This rendition is performed by the Kalakshetra Foundation, Tiruvanmiyur, Chennai. Kalakshetra Foundation is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India since 1993. Started in 1936 by Smt. Rukmini Devi with an intention of imparting effective education through arts, it now consists of 2 schools, College of Fine-Arts and the Craft Research & Education centre. The Kalakshetra repertory company comprises of select staff, students and alumni of Kalakshetra. Since the early years of the institution, the company has performed to wide acclaim around the world and continues to uphold the highest standards of performance. Each member of the Kalakshetra repertory company is an accomplished and creative solo performer, a result of the rigorous theoretical and practical arts training they receive at Kalakshetra. These artists combine as the Kalakshetra Repertory Company to present riveting programs of Indian classical dance Sabari Moksham is the fourth of Rukmini Devi’s six part Ramayanam series of dance-dramas. Kalakshetra and music. Their repertoire includes mythology based dance-dramas, classical and contemporary will present an edited version of it until the meeting of Rama and Jatayu for the presentation. Bharatanatyam compositions, as well as programmes of the varied folk dances of India. Surpanakha, the sister of Ravana, sees Rama while he is staying in Panchavati, and is attracted to him. Rama spurns her when she offers her love, and Lakshmana chastises and disfigures her when she tries to harm Sita Kalakshetra productions have come to be recognized worldwide for their impeccable technique in her jealousy. Ravana is furious, and vows revenge. He arranges for the demon Maricha to assume the form and aesthetics. Senior dancers and musicians of the institute continue to add to the already of a golden deer and entice Rama away while in the form of an ascetic he approaches Sita and abducts her. vast repertoire. The king of eagles, Jatayu comes to the aid of Sita, but is killed in the attempt to save her. Choodamani pradanam Mahapattabhishekam Rama wanders in the forests with Lakshmana, Vibhishana, brother of searching for Sita who has been abducted Ravana surrenders to Sri by Ravana. He helps Sugriva, the king of the Rama, having failed in his monkeys, to regain his kingdom by killing attempt to make Ravana the usurper Vali. In return, Sugriva sends his see the folly of keeping Sita trusted envoy Hanuman, to search for Sita. captive. Rama, with the aid of Hanuman crosses the ocean and finds Sita the army of monkeys builds a imprisoned by Ravana in Ashokavana in Lanka.