DIGBOI, Feb 5 � The 2010 version of the Dehing Patkai Festival got under way at Lekhapani in Tinsukia district in a traditional way this morning at the Dehing Patkai ground. The event started off with the offering of Patkai Tipam Dangaria Puja by the representatives of all the tribes living in the area.
The inaugural session was presided over by Dr KK Dwivedi, deputy commissioner of Tinsukia district and chairman of the festival committee. PS Ghatowar MP from Dibrugarh constituency was the chief guest and Rockybul Hussain, Minister of Forests and Tourism, Pradyut Bordoloi, local MLA and Minister of Power, Industries etc., Monalisha Goswami, director of Tourism, Diganta Bora, SP of Tinsukia district, Anil Borah, CGM of NE Coal Fields and Ms Ranee Bordoloi were the distinguished guests.
Dr Dwivedi welcomed the gathering hoping that the people of the entire area would foster inter community harmony and develop the festival as the very source of strength of their sustenance and well-being. Pradyut Bordoloi, in his address, gave an outline of the background of the festival. He said that the Margherita block area happens to be the melting hot of richly diverse cultures and golden store house of ethnic identities. He claimed that industrilization of the North-east began from Margherita. Recounting the matchless contribution of Chow Long Syukapha to the forging of one national identity among all the ethnic groups of this part of the state, Bordoloi said that a similar thought process was behind the organization of Dehing Patkai Festival.
PS Ghatowar, in his speech as the chief guest, expressed his happiness at the organization of such a festival, specially among the various ethnic groups living in the easternmost part of the country. He wished that the festival would grow to greater dimensions in future. Ghatowar also released the souvenir of the festival, edited by Dr Buddhin Gogoi.
Rockybul Hussain, the State Tourism Minister said that he saw in the festival great prospect to attract more and more numbers of domestic as well as foreign tourists. He announced that Rs 3.32 crore was going to be released in about a week�s time for the development of a tourism circuit within Tinsukia district covering Dibru-Saikhowa and Dehing Patkai areas. He also said that a grant of Rs 50.51 lakh would be made available to Lekhapani Buddhist Society for the development of their monasteries.
The attendance in the opening session this time was much thinner than in the earlier years. A variety of programmes have been stored for this evening and the next two days.
DIGBOI, Feb 5 � The 2010 version of the Dehing Patkai Festival got under way at Lekhapani in Tinsukia district in a traditional way this morning at the Dehing Patkai ground. The event started off with the offering of Patkai Tipam Dangaria Puja by the representatives of all the tribes living in the area.
The inaugural session was presided over by Dr KK Dwivedi, deputy commissioner of Tinsukia district and chairman of the festival committee. PS Ghatowar MP from Dibrugarh constituency was the chief guest and Rockybul Hussain, Minister of Forests and Tourism, Pradyut Bordoloi, local MLA and Minister of Power, Industries etc., Monalisha Goswami, director of Tourism, Diganta Bora, SP of Tinsukia district, Anil Borah, CGM of NE Coal Fields and Ms Ranee Bordoloi were the distinguished guests.
Dr Dwivedi welcomed the gathering hoping that the people of the entire area would foster inter community harmony and develop the festival as the very source of strength of their sustenance and well-being. Pradyut Bordoloi, in his address, gave an outline of the background of the festival. He said that the Margherita block area happens to be the melting hot of richly diverse cultures and golden store house of ethnic identities. He claimed that industrilization of the North-east began from Margherita. Recounting the matchless contribution of Chow Long Syukapha to the forging of one national identity among all the ethnic groups of this part of the state, Bordoloi said that a similar thought process was behind the organization of Dehing Patkai Festival.
PS Ghatowar, in his speech as the chief guest, expressed his happiness at the organization of such a festival, specially among the various ethnic groups living in the easternmost part of the country. He wished that the festival would grow to greater dimensions in future. Ghatowar also released the souvenir of the festival, edited by Dr Buddhin Gogoi.
Rockybul Hussain, the State Tourism Minister said that he saw in the festival great prospect to attract more and more numbers of domestic as well as foreign tourists. He announced that Rs 3.32 crore was going to be released in about a week�s time for the development of a tourism circuit within Tinsukia district covering Dibru-Saikhowa and Dehing Patkai areas. He also said that a grant of Rs 50.51 lakh would be made available to Lekhapani Buddhist Society for the development of their monasteries.
The attendance in the opening session this time was much thinner than in the earlier years. A variety of programmes have been stored for this evening and the next two days.
