Karukala Utsav: 3-day handicraft festival to start from today

Raiganj: North Dinajpur district administration is organising “Karukala Utsav,” a three-day handicraft festival in collaboration with UNESCO to promote the traditional handicrafts of North Dinajpur.

The handicraft festival will be held from April 7 to 9 at S D Vidyachakra High School Ground in Raiganj.

Arvind Kumar Mina, District Magistrate, North Dinajpur, said: “This Handicraft Festival will be an excellent platform for showcasing the handicrafts of the district. UNESCO is also supporting the festival.”

North Dinajpur has many traditional handicrafts. Dokra, woodcrafts, bamboo crafts, designed straw mats and jute crafts are some of the renowned crafts of this region. Carpets made in the Malegaon village of Kaliaganj deserve special mention.

However, the skills of most of the craftsmen of this rich indigenous art and crafts of the district remain commercially unexplored to their fullest. Thus, without commercial patronage, many traditional crafts of North Dinajpur are facing the threat of extinction.

To save the indigenous art and craft of various districts, the state government has taken up various projects like organising regular fairs, festivals and exhibitions.

These provide exposure and sales platforms for the craftsmen. The young craftsmen are also provided training by master craftsmen.

A team of UNESCO representatives will be visiting Raiganj during the festival. Cultural programmes where the artistes of North Dinajpur will perform traditional folk music and dance will also be an integral part of the Utsav.