Ballari: Hampi by para-plane and the kite festival are the new attractions at the Hampi Utsav, a three-day cultural extravaganza which will start on January 9 at the world heritage site – Hampi.
Last year, the ‘Hampi by sky’, a helicopter ride, was introduced which turned quite popular.Though the authorities are trying to introduce it this year too, fund crunch may force them to go with the para-plane programme, sources said.
In the ‘kite festival’, teams from Mumbai, Vadodara, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bidar are expected to take part. Mr Sameer Shukla, Deputy Commissioner and Chairman district-level Hampi Utsav Celebration Committee, said that five stages would be erected and named after Sri Krishnadevaraya (main stage), M.P. Prakash (second main stage), Sage Vidyaranya (Yeduru Basava temple), Hakka Bukka (Virupaksha temple precinct) and Daroji Eeramma (opposite Krishna temple).
The Utsav will host around 2,500 artistes from the district, the state and across the country. Preference has been given to local artistes (1,250), artistes from the state (850), other parts of the country (340) and international artistes (60). Artistes of national and international fame would perform at the Utsav. Kaivalya Kumar Gaurav, T.S. Satyavathi, Parmeshwar Hegde (vocalists), Bollywood singers Himesh Reshammiya, Mika Singh, Richa Sharma and Shalmali Kholgade are some of the star performers.
Artistes from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu along with international artistes from Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Africa will take the stage, he said.The Utsav will also host adventure and water sports, food courts, a kid zone with 20-25 activities for children, flower show, photography and painting contests and exhibition stalls, he said.
Mr P.T. Parameshwar Naik, labour and district in-charge minister, inspected the works and said that preparations were on to celebrate the utsav in a grand scale.Various committees have been formed to manage different aspects of the Utsav. Details of the events during the Utsav will be available on ‘hampiutsav.com’. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will inaugurate the cultural festival at 6 pm on January 9. Minister for Tourism and Chairman of State-level Utsav Committee R.V. Deshpande and other ministers, Mr Naik and Ms Umashree, will take part.
