 The
Lalitha Kala Thoranam wore a festive look
for eight days as the hundreds of visitors thronged
the venue to have a look at the cultural programmes
and traditional art and crafts stalls set up as
part of the Andhra Pradesh Culture and Heritage
Festival. The heritage festival, which was concluded
recently enthralled one and all in the twin cities.
"The event showcased the rich heritage of
Andhra Pradesh to the urbanites," said
Chandana Khan, Secretary, Youth Advancement
and Tourism, Government of AP.
 The
festival was inaugurated by Union Minister Mr.
Bandaru Dattatreya and on the inaugural day,
the festival had Tapettagullu and Buttabommalu
and the exclusive lion dance. On its second
day, a Kuchipudi recital by Prasanna Anand
team and Puliveshalu from Krishna District
received great applause from the crowd. Many traditional
programmes like Garagala dance, Perani dance,
Bonala, Kolaatam, Lambadi dance and Burra
Katha were organised through out the festival.
 Besides
the cultural programmes, one attractive feature
of the festival was the 'Santha' (Exhibition
of various goods that reflects the tradition and
culture of the State). There were many stalls this
time and offered plenty of options to the visitors
to take home the crafts which were aesthetically
made. The articles available were artistic metalware,
bidri, wood and stone carvings, terracota pottery,
embroidery, traditional brass vessels, Zari Sarees,
wooden toys, leather goods, agate jewellery,
carpets, miniature paintings, bamboo carvings. Other
crafts on display were the Kalamkari bedsheets.
Kondapally and Ettukoppa toys and wood works from
Chitoor.
 "Displaying
the works at heritage festivals always give us pleasure
and we love to do it," said national award
winner Mr. Vaikuntam Nakkashi from Cherial
of Warangal district. He specialises
in a traditional craft of scroll painting and saw
dust masks, an art which was popularised by his
ancestors. He says, "nowadays it is difficult
to sustain the traditional craft due to lack of
materials such as water colours as people are now
switching over to oils." The price of the
paintings in his stall ranged between Rs. 100 and
Rs. 2,500. Vaikuntam's entire family is involved
in the field of crafts and paintings. The masks
showing folk heroes such as Pota Raju, the
Yadava rajas and village goddesses done by
them are sold in the local markets as well as in
the emporiums run by the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
 Photofeature
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