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Kala Utsav receives countrywide participation

-President/Prime Minister joins observances

Georgetown , GINA, November 26, 2006

President Bharrat Jagdeo today joined Hindus countrywide at the Sankirtic Kendra, Prashad Nagar, for the12th annual celebration of Kala Ustav.

Kala Ustav which translates ‘Festival of Arts’, is an annual event of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha which showcases a variety of talent forms by participants drawn from Praants countrywide.

Participants seeking to impress the judges and audience during this year’s Kala Utsav (OP Photo).

The Head-of-State noted that “the formal education system focuses on academics but in many life situations the things that matter most are values we learn in the family, the mandir and other similar institutions.”

Individual Praants held preliminary competitions among mandirs in their respective districts, after which finalists were selected for today’s event.

Several Praants participated, including East Coast Demerara, East Berbice, West Berbice, Central Corentyne and Georgetown.

The cultural extravaganza takes the form of displays and competitions which fuses participants from the Indian Cultural Centre, the Dharmic Sabha and other similar organisations.

Today’s event saw performers in varied categories which included Ramayan chanting, tabla, classical and folk dances, Hindu elocution and other literary art forms.

The event was judged by leading religious and cultural leaders and prizes were awarded for outstanding performers.

Present Jagdeo presented 1 st, 2 nd and 3 rd place prizes to winners in the respective categories.

President Bharrat Jagdeo presents awards to winners of various categories at this year’s Kala Utsav (OP Photo).

The West Demerara Praant dominated today’s proceedings capturing several prizes in most of the categories.

Among others present were President of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha, Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud, Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and invitees from the Diplomatic Corps.

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