Newmai News Network Imphal | November 5 The department of Tourism, Manipur organized the curtain-raiser of the upcoming Manipur Sangai Festival at Select City Walk Mall, New Delhi today. The event showcased the varied attractions of the festival scheduled from November 21 to 30 according a DIPR report. MP, Rajya Sabha and Padma Bhushan Awardee, Mary Kom; former Boxing World Champion and Arjuna Awardee, Sarita Laishram along with the former Indian Football Captain, P Kenedy Singh promoted the event. Officials from Manipur Tourism department along with its stakeholders shared updates on the preparations for the largest tourism festival of the state during the event. The festival is named after the state’s unique, shy and gentle brow-antlered Sangai Deer (Dancing Deer). The Sangai Deer is found only in Manipur’s floating Keibul Lamjao National Park, at Loktak Lake. The festival is aimed at showcasing its rich art and cultural heritage and celebrating the various ethnic diversities of Manipur. Dr Sapam Ranjan, Chairman, Tourism Corporation Manipur Ltd stated that the festival will be inaugurated at Imphal, the capital city of Manipur on November 21. Two other districts, Bishnupur and Senapati districts of Manipur will also play host to the festival and have a line-up of events ranging from half-marathons, water-sports, trekking and other adventure activities. Taking the festival as an opportunity, we are here to connect with our potential stakeholders in the capital city. We wish to invite them to come to our state and enjoy our cultural extravaganza. Manipur holds a great many surprises for every visitor. The profound natural beauty of our state and the unique attractions that we have like the floating national park of Keibul Lamjao and Sangai are found nowhere else in the world, added the Chairman. A variety of dance forms of over 34 recognized tribes of Manipur will be the special attraction of this mega tourism event. The main venue of the festival at Hapta Kangjeibung, Imphal will entertain visitors with mesmerizing performances of renowned artists from all over the world every evening. The famous Raas Leela dance of Manipur is a must watch amongst the variety of performances by folk dance artistes. The state is considered one of the safest states for women and has a women only market where many businesswomen run their small vegetable stalls till late at night. The domestic tourist inflow was 1,16,652 in 2010-11, in 2017-18 this figure increased to 1,64,483. Similarly, the foreign tourist inflow increased manifold from 431 in 2010-11 to 3,787 in 2017-18. On Saturday, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh launched the website www.sangaiticket.in to book the tickets for the upcoming Manipur Sangai Festival 2018. The launching function was held at Cabinet Hall of Chief Minister’s Secretariat.
