Bengal's tableau to highlight Gandhi's ties with Santiniketan
R-Day Parade: Whole concept conceived by Chief Minister
Kolkata: The tableau of the Bengal government is all set to take part in the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi. The Defence Ministry has already approved it with the theme 'Santiniketan and Gandhiji at Beliaghata'. Bengal is one of the 14 states whose tableau will be gracing the parade on January 26.
This is for the first time when the Defense ministry had selected the theme of the tableaus for the Republic Day Parade. Gandhiji was selected as the theme to mark the occasion of his 150th birth anniversary. Bengal's tableau has been designed as per plans and directions of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
"It was in March 1915 when Gandhiji had met Rabindranath Tagore at Santiniketan. The moment will be captured through the tableau this year. A fibre model is being created to portray the meeting. The model will be placed at the front of the trailer which will be 48 feet in length and 14 feet wide. The model of Rabindranath Tagore's house 'Shyamoli' has been created as a background of the meeting," a senior official of the state Information and Cultural Affairs department said.
At the back side of the trailer, the model of Haider Manzil, now known as Gandhi Bhavan, has been made. Gandhiji had sat on fast at this place in Beliaghata on August 13, 1947 for 73 hours to protest against countrywide riots. Some rioters had surrendered before the 'Father of the Nation' and after they assured peace, Gandhiji broke his fast. "This entire sequence has been etched out in the form of model," the official added.
It may be mentioned that on August 15, 1947, when India gained Independence, Gandhiji was at Haider Manzil.
There is an expert committee of the Ministry of Defence that qualifies the tableaus that the states propose to display at the Republic Day Parade after going through all its details. The committee goes through the sketches, models and all aspects of the tableau. Last year, the tableau of the state government with the theme "Ekatai Sampriti" was not allowed by the Defence ministry.
It may be mentioned that the erstwhile Left Front government had refused to send tableaus at the Republic Day Parade in Delhi from 1999. It was in 2012 when under the initiative of Mamata Banerjee the state's tableau took part in the parade. Bengal had won the award for the best tableau in 2014 and 2016 respectively. In 2014, the tableau was based on Chhau Dance while in 2016 it was Banglar Baul.
In 2017, the theme for the tableau was Sharod Utsav which depicted how people from all communities participate in the state's biggest festival — Durga Puja.
