Nadi Utsav: A three-day festival in Delhi on India's riverine culture by IGNCA

This initiative, conceived by Dr. Sachchidanand Joshi, is being organised annually by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) since 2018.

The previous festivals were held in Nashik (Maharashtra) situated on the banks of River Godavari, Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) on the banks of River Krishna, and Munger (Bihar) on the banks of river Ganga.

The fourth 'Nadi Utsav' is being organized by the National Mission on Cultural Mapping (NMCM) of IGNCA and the Janapada Sampada Division, and will continue till September 24 this year.

The three-day event includes scholarly discussions on rivers in ancient texts, cultural heritage along the rivers, rivers in folk and cultural traditions., screening of films, cultural presentations, a book fair, puppet shows, literary discussions, etc.

A photography exhibition related to river civilization and an exhibition of paintings made on rivers by school children of Delhi are also part of the event.

Abhay Mishra, Assistant Director, NMCM, IGNCA said ‘Nadi Utsav’ is an attempt to document riverine culture, its tradition, rituals and water wisdom.

At the inauguration on Friday, Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal, was the chief guest.

Others attending the program were scholar Acharya Shrivatsa Goswami; head of Parmarth Niketan, Swami Chidanand Saraswati; environmentalist Dr. Anil Prakash Joshi; IGNCA President Ram Bahadur Rai; and Dr. Sachchidanand Joshi, Member Secretary, IGNCA.

According to a release from the organisation, there is a plan to award five of the best documentary films being screened at the event.