Detailed Information about Taj Mahotsav Festival & Its Importance

India is the land of beautiful cultures and rich traditions and the many festivals that come up round the year give it and opportunity to showcase its colors. There is a diversity in the languages and the customs and the traditions that change from the westernmost stretch of the country to the easternmost end, from the northernmost to the southernmost tip one will find a vast difference in the traditions and the customs and hence when it comes to celebrating India on a common stage the event becomes and very vibrant one. One such festival of the Indian subcontinent is the Taj Mahotsav that is a potpourri of events in which the culture, the cuisine the arts and the music from the different states of India get a common platform to perform.

The Taj Mahotsav is ten day celebration that is one of the most awaited events of the year that is celebrated every year in the mid February time. The festival is held in order to promote the Indian tourism. The various artists from across the country come together here to perform at the festival that is held at the city of Agra. The ceremony begins with the singing of the theme song of the festival that is the "Atthiti Debo Bhava" or "Guest Is God" during the evening time under the open sky at Shilpgram near the Eastern gate of "Taj Mahal". The festival is organized by the Uttar Pradesh government.

As the Taj is a symbol of the Mughal architecture and hence the programs that are held here also showcase the glorious past of the Mughal in India through the various stage programs, the dance shows and the music performances. The camels and the bedecked elephants are brought for the show to give the Mughal feel to the festival. The craftsmen from across the different parts of the country also get a platform to display their wonderful pieces of marble works during the Taj Mahotsav. Besides the marble works that rule the festival we also find many fine architectural works, the silk saris from Benaras, the hand woven carpets from the Kashmir valley, the pottery products from the Khurja etc dominate the festival. So you can be sure that you are going to be high on the shopping during the Taj Mahotsav.

The festival is painted in the colors of the traditional and the folk culture as the stage invites the folk artists from the different parts of the country as the Kathakali of Kerala, the most vibrant colors of Rajasthan in the Sapera dance form, the Marathi folk culture coming very much alive in the Lavani dance form of Maharashtra. Not only the folk dancers but the artists from the field of cinema from the regional and the bollyhood perform at the festivals along with the singers, the stand up artists, etc.

Alongside the festival the people can take the opportunity to get around and visit the various places of interest around Agra as the Agra Fort, the Fatehpur Sikri, the Chini Ka Roza, the Mehtab Bagh, the Meena Bazaar, the Akbar's Mausoleum etc.