SHILLONG, March 30 - The wait is finally over! The three-day cultural extravaganza, the Monolith Festival 2016, an initiative of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council, will kick off at the Khasi Heritage Village, Mawphlang at 12.30 pm on Thursday after the Governor of Meghalaya V Shanmuganathan inaugurates it.
The festival aims to bring together the fifty-three Himas of the Khasis to one common stage of cultural display and at the same time become a taste of the senses for visitors driven by an interest in learning about the myriad aspects of a culture- to go on a path of discovery of their roots, or to come just out of pure natural curiosity and a willingness to indulge in what the festival has to offer.
The event will have a lot on offer for every visitor with a number of cultural performances, workshops, indigenous sports events, stage performances etc., lined up for the three-day extravaganza. One also cannot afford to miss out the indigenous delicacies among others on offer as 120 odd stalls are being set up to cater to the taste buds of the thousands and more who plan a trip to Mawphlang in the next three days.
The festival will also bring about an international exchange of cultures. Nuragunya, an Aboriginal Band from Australia will take part in a landmark cultural exchange initiative to bring ancient cultures steeped in oral and musical history to a common platform.
Come Thursday, the cultural extravaganza will be set rolling with the Snap Paka (a group) drum ensemble at the main stage at 1 pm followed by the performance of the Monolith Festival theme song. A host of other exciting activities including cultural performances by renowned artiste have been lined up for the event.
