Curtain Raiser Event for Manipur Sangai Festival Organised at Delhi

Guwahati: The beautiful North Eastern state of Manipur is all set for the Annual Manipur Sangai Festival. The Festival over the years has been showcasing the rich culture, heritage, and culture of the pristine land.

Manipur often termed as an unexplored paradise for tourist, has a lot to offer to every tourist to the state The 10 day long Manipur Sangai Festival is celebrated from November 21 to 30 every year. The festival takes its name from the state’s unique, shy and gentle brow-antlered, Sangai deer or the dancing deer. The Sangai deer is found only in Manipur’s floating Keibul Lamjao National Park at the Loktak Lake. The festival has great profundity in showcasing its rich art and cultural heritage and celebrating the various ethnic diversities in Manipur.

Talking about the festival, Dr. Sapam Ranjan, chairman of the Tourism Corporation of Manipur Limited, informed that the festival will be inaugurated at Imphal on November 21. Two other districts of the state—Bishnupur, and Senapati, will also play host to the festival. The Festival will witness different types of events ranging from half-marathons, water sports and trekking along with other adventure activities. A curtain-raiser event of the festival was recently organised at the Select CityWalk mall at Saket in New Delhi.

The member of parliament and Padma Bhushan awardee Mary Kom, the former boxing world champion and Arjuna awardee Sarita Laishram, along with the former Indian football team captain P Kenedy Singh, were all present at the event to promote the festival in the capital. Officials from Manipur Tourism along with its stakeholders shared updates on the preparations for the largest tourism festival of the state.f

Dr Ranjan while addressing the gathering at the event in the capital welcomed the tourist to be a part of the festival and explore the unique natural beauty of the state.

“Taking the festival as an opportunity, we are here to connect with our potential stakeholders in the capital city of the country. We wish to invite them to come to our state and enjoy our cultural extravaganza. Manipur holds a great many surprises for every visitor. The profound natural beauty of the state and the unique attractions that we have, like the floating national park of Keibul Lamjao and Sangai are found nowhere else in the world,” said Ranjan.

Renowned artists from all over the world will entertain the visitor every evening at the main venue of the festival at Hapta Kangjeibung, Imphal. The famous Rass Leela dance of Manipur is a must watch amongst the variety of performances by folk dance artists.

Speaking on the occasion, Tourism Director of the government of Manipur, W Ibohal Singh said, “Manipur receives the maximum number of visitors during this time of the year when we celebrate our biggest tourism festival. The curtain raiser for this festival is organised in Delhi to create awareness amongst potential visitors about the state’s offerings as a tourist destination. Manipur is largely unexplored and offers huge opportunities for adventure, culture and rural tourism aficionados,”

The director further added, “Our state presents huge opportunities for adventure tourism and we are exploring opportunities to associate with domestic and international adventure tourism associations. It is the right time for us to inform travellers in the region that our side is ready to welcome them to the Manipur Sangai Festival. The state is considered one of the safest state for women travellers. It has a women’s only market where many businesswomen run their small vegetable stalls till late at night.”

The Festival which was started in 2010, it has over the years has become a platform to boost tourist inflow.

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