The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu will inaugurate ‘Aadi Mahotsav’ - a fortnight long Tribal Festival with the theme of ‘A Celebration of the Spirit of Tribal Culture, Cuisine and Commerce’ tomorrow i.e 16 Nov 2017 at Dilli Haat, INA, New Delhi. The inaugural function will be presided over by Minister of Tribal Affairs Shri Jual Oram. Ministers of State for Tribal Affairs Shri Jaswantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor and Shri Sudarshan Bhagat will be specially present to grace the occasion. Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs Ms. Leena Nair, Managing Director, TRIFED Shri Pravir Krishna and other senior officials will also be present on the occasion.

 

Over 750 tribal artisans from over 25 States will be participating in the festival. Aadi Mahotsav is scheduled to be organized at four venues throughout Delhi. The details of the venues and dates of the festival are as under.

Dilli Haat, INA                       -           16-30 November, 2017

Dilli Haat, Janakpuri               -           16-19 November, 2017

Central Park, Rajiv Chowk     -           16-17 November, 2017

Handicraft Bhawan, Baba Kharak Singh Marg  -  16-19 November, 2017

 

The Mahotsav : Showcasing Tribal Culture, Commerce & Cuisine:

The festival will run for a fortnight through 30^th November 2017. The theme of the festival is: A Celebration of the Spirit of Tribal Culture, Cuisine and Commerce. The festival will feature exhibition-cum-sale of tribal handicrafts, art, paintings, fabric, jewellery and much more through about 200 stalls.

 

Over 750 tribal artisans and artists from over 25 States will be participating in the festival. A special feature of the festival is Tribal India cuisine, recreated and presented in delectable forms to suit urban tastes by special tribal chefs.

 

An attractive stage has been raised at the venue to showcase tribal music and dance every evening from 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm. Nearly 350 artists from 20 States are expected to perform during the festival.  

 

Shopping, Dining & Fine Music

The 15 days Mahotsav is expected have a footfall of over one lakh Delhiites.  It promises to be a feast of shopping, exotic dining and fine music from Artists from all over the Country.  The tribal textiles manufactured by Master tribal  Craftsmen from Jammu & Kashmir in the North to Tamil Nadu in the South and from Gujarat in the East to Nagaland/Sikkim in the West will win the heart of Delhiites. 

 

The Traditional tribal jewelry, bamboo cane also promise to be  the items of attraction.The Tribal handicrafts would be sold through about 200 Stalls in the Dilli Haat, INA by tribal Artisans.   Twenty five special tribal cuisines would be on display and sale during the fortnight and Delhites are welcome to sample the exotic Adi Vyanjan.

 

A team of 350 tribal artists from all over the country will present excellent and choreographed dances, vocal and instrumental music.  Four rock bands from North East would be giving enthralling performances everyday in the evening from 5.30 P.M. to 8.30 P.M. 

 

In line with the national aspiration to go cashless, the tribal artisans will be accepting payment through credit/debit cards for which Point of Sale (POS) machines have been provided in each stall.  A special training has been conducted by State Bank of India for smooth operation of this.  The Mahotsav will display the rich digital commerce and e-commerce being promoted by Tribes India.  All the stalls will prefer and promote payments through credit cards. 

 

 

Background :

The tribes constitute over 8% of the country’s population. This is a very significant number. In real terms it corresponds to over 10 crore Indians. The national object of inclusive development (sabka vikas) includes the development of tribes as an important component. Our constitution enjoins upon the Government the responsibility of addressing the special needs of the tribals.

 

As the name of this event Aadi Mahotsav suggests, it is the ‘adi’ factor that is important about them. The Adivasi  way of life is guided by primal truths, eternal values and a natural simplicity. The greatness of the tribes lies in this that they have managed to retain the primal skills, the natural simplicity. Their creations issue from the depths of time. This quality gives their arts and crafts a timeless appeal. The crudest tribal handicraft instantly touches a primal instinct in all of us. This is particularly true of tribal music and dance.  

 

The tribes of India have a wide range of handicrafts. These include handwoven cotton, wool and silk fabrics, woodcrafts, metal craft, terracotta, bead-work, masques and other objects. They also produce compelling paintings. It is true that the tribes did not develop these arts and handicrafts for the market. They developed them for their own captive use. But we all live in a changing world. Nobody can remain unaffected by these changes. Not even the tribes. Like all of us, the tribes too now need cash for sundry purposes. It is therefore important that their natural skills must be channelled to promote their sources of income. It is for this reason that the Government seeks to promote interaction between the tribal artisans and the mainstream designers from reputed design organizations. The idea is to expand the product range and designs. The synergy between these two can generate marketable products of art and handicraft for the top-end global market. Single items of bell-metal produced by the late Jaideo Baghel of Kondagaon in Bastar sold for as much as five lacs of rupees! This only points to the fact that on the one hand there are skills in the tribal pockets of India, and on the other hand there is high-end demand in our cities and in the international market.

 

The need is to put two and two together for a win-win result. Events such as this Adi Mahotsav are very important in this regard. The Government has formed the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (Trifed) for achieving this.   Trifed is doing significant work in this direction and have now embraced e-commerce and digital platforms to take the business forward.

 

TRIBES India proudly announces the signing of MOUs with Amazon, Snapdeal, Flipkart, PayTM and GEM, a Government of India Portal for e-commerce of the tribal products.  Besides TRIBES India has also has its own e-com portal www.eshop.tribesindia.com. 

 

The Mahotsav is an effort to take tribal commerce to the next level of digital and electronic transactions.  The Mahotsav apart from exotic handicrafts will also  showcase the electronic and digital skills of the tribals as a special attraction.   

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MKV/AK

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