The Janapada Mela, held at the Maharani Lakshmi Ammani College recently, was a burst of colour and tradition.
This folk festival, which is also known as Janapada Jaatre or Janapada Habba, was held for two days and included a food fair as well as a wide variety of competitions and performances.
The food fair was replete with the state's local dishes like ragi mudde, bass saru, idikida avarekai sambhar, chakli and paddu.
Everything was homemade and rotis and obbattu were prepared during the fest and served fresh.
The students also exchanged the traditional yellu bella at the fest.
The cultural fest also included many dance forms like dolu kunitha and jaanapada aduge.
The first day of the fest saw the opening of the various food stalls, the janapada geete (folk-song competition) and the rangoli competition.
The whole college, decked up with streamers and painted pots, looked very festive.
Vismita Manjeshwar, a second PU student who had put up a stall of North Indian snacks, says, "Since it was a hot day, everyone was rushing to our stall for jaljeera. We also had hot jalebis, that were an instant click. The food added to the cultural fiesta that the whole event was."
Chaitra Nagaraj, another second PU student, comments, "During the fest, we got to interact with a lot of attendees and talk to them about their own experiences.
There were some people who were a bit surprised to see North Indian food at a Janapada fest — but apart from that we got a lot of positive feedback."
The second day saw more celebrations. The college brought in a Janapada singer to entertain the crowd.
A small stage was set up, on which a play on the Indian view of inter-caste marriage was performed.
The fest saw all the students dressed up in traditional attire.
Some dressed up in male folk outfits too, and took part in competitions like janapada rani and janapada raja.
Deeptishree R, a BSc student who hosted the janapadi rani, says, "I hosted the programme wearing a kacha panche and spoke Kannada in the Dharwad style, which I practiced and perfected with the help of my teachers.
The programme had an introductory round, a task round and a question round, which were all rated, and the rani was chosen."
Mehendi-making, dancing, tug-of-war and kunte pille (traditional hopscotch) were
other activities included in the fest.
The students and teachers also joined in the making of garlands.
Anagha N Bharadwaj, the cultural secretary, says, "In a fast-paced world, where everyone's rushing to meet deadlines, a fest like this often helps to remind one that
culture is to be enjoyed and celebrated."
This folk festival, which is also known as Janapada Jaatre or Janapada Habba, was held for two days and included a food fair as well as a wide variety of competitions and performances.
The food fair was replete with the state's local dishes like ragi mudde, bass saru, idikida avarekai sambhar, chakli and paddu.
Everything was homemade and rotis and obbattu were prepared during the fest and served fresh.
The students also exchanged the traditional yellu bella at the fest.
The cultural fest also included many dance forms like dolu kunitha and jaanapada aduge.
The first day of the fest saw the opening of the various food stalls, the janapada geete (folk-song competition) and the rangoli competition.
The whole college, decked up with streamers and painted pots, looked very festive.
Vismita Manjeshwar, a second PU student who had put up a stall of North Indian snacks, says, "Since it was a hot day, everyone was rushing to our stall for jaljeera. We also had hot jalebis, that were an instant click. The food added to the cultural fiesta that the whole event was."
Chaitra Nagaraj, another second PU student, comments, "During the fest, we got to interact with a lot of attendees and talk to them about their own experiences.
There were some people who were a bit surprised to see North Indian food at a Janapada fest — but apart from that we got a lot of positive feedback."
The second day saw more celebrations. The college brought in a Janapada singer to entertain the crowd.
A small stage was set up, on which a play on the Indian view of inter-caste marriage was performed.
The fest saw all the students dressed up in traditional attire.
Some dressed up in male folk outfits too, and took part in competitions like janapada rani and janapada raja.
Deeptishree R, a BSc student who hosted the janapadi rani, says, "I hosted the programme wearing a kacha panche and spoke Kannada in the Dharwad style, which I practiced and perfected with the help of my teachers.
The programme had an introductory round, a task round and a question round, which were all rated, and the rani was chosen."
Mehendi-making, dancing, tug-of-war and kunte pille (traditional hopscotch) were
other activities included in the fest.
The students and teachers also joined in the making of garlands.
Anagha N Bharadwaj, the cultural secretary, says, "In a fast-paced world, where everyone's rushing to meet deadlines, a fest like this often helps to remind one that
culture is to be enjoyed and celebrated."