Kurukshetra university hosts South Asian Universities 

Festival (SAUFEST)

Biswabrata Goswami

KURUKSHETRA : The South Asian Universities Festivals, known as SAUFEST, an international cultural festival of the South-Asian Universities was recently held at Kurukshetra University in Haryana. The 13th version of the fest witnessed around 600 participants from 28 universities where six countries – Bhutan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Mauritius and India took part in the grand fest from 24 to 28 February.  

Students from different universities across these six countries of the South-Asian region showcased their talent and respective cultures through music, theatre, fine arts, folk art, heritage, quiz, poetical symposium, debates, dances and paintings during the fest.

The students from various cultural backgrounds, customs and ethnicities that follow different beliefs and social values united at the Kurukshetra varsity auditorium and got a chance to interact with the bond of fraternity between different diversities in the Indian society.

The fest was combination of culture, a meld of social value, a symmetry of belief, and harmonize of rhythms that inspired and refreshed spirit of national integration and communal parallelism.

While inaugurating the fest on 24 February, D P Vats, Rajya Sabha MP and a retired Lt Gen said, “The SAUFEST at KU is a confluence of cultures of different countries. The festival is a symbol of peace, prosperity, cultural harmony and mutual love in South Asian region”.

“Despite being separated politically, these countries share common cultural values, cultural heritage, family system and way of thinking. By having the youth from different nations of South Asia on a common platform, they will learn about each other and contribute to harmony amongst nations, added Vats.

Kurukshetra MP Nayab Singh Saini said, “It is a matter of pride for the state of Haryana that KU has got the chance to host the 13th South Asian Cultural Festival”.

KU Vice-Chancellor Kailash Chandra Sharma, who flagged of the procession at the sports grounds of the varsity before the inaugural ceremony said the festival is attended by the foreign youth artists as well as youths from 28 universities in different states of the country.

Dr Sharma emphasised on the need to cultivate creativity and curiosity among the youth. He said, “It is an honour and a privilege to provide a platform to these leaders of tomorrow, to be a contributor to the synergy of their thoughts, and to be a participant in the process of building a better tomorrow for us all.”

A variety of cultural items such as folk orchestra, group song, Afghani dance, Haryanvi dance and giddha were presented by the hosts. 

Mr Tejinder Sharma, director, department of youth and culture of KU, said “South Asian art, culture, costumes and untouched aspects of the culture of different countries were showcased at KU-SAUFEST. The festival witnessed the culture of the entire South Asian region. The event aimed at spreading the message of love and brotherhood in the region.”

The Saufest is a noble concept of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) ensuing from a goal to promote active collaboration and mutual understanding amongst the South Asian countries in educational, social, cultural and economic fields.

Dr Ashok Kumar, assistant professor of Institute of Mass Communication and Media Technology of KU said, “One of the key objectives of the festival is also to strengthen unity and harmony between the participating countries. It is the combination of the captivating poetry of footsteps with divine melodies of vocals and a cultural diversity of the South-Asian nations that creates a versatile and vibrant spectrum of youthfulness and unstoppable energy”.

Hundreds of students and family members enjoyed the festival continued for five days and they were witnessed the vibrant youthful spirit reflected every country’s culture under one umbrella.

Among the foreign countries, Afghanistan which has been suffering from civil war and fundamentalism of the Taliban for a long period put spectacular performance during the fest. “It proved that the traditional and folk music and their instruments continue to exist in the root of culture and people's life. The students from Afghanistan performed Herati, a folk music, Attan, a folk dance and Klasik, a traditional classical music which is under the influence of North Indian classical music.

The music of Bhutan is an integral part of its culture and plays a leading role in transmitting social values. Traditional Bhutanese music includes a spectrum of subgenres, ranging from folk to religious song and music.

The Bhutan delegates performed Cham dance, one of the most conspicuous religious musical subgenres in Bhutan, Zhungdra and Boedra dances.

The students from Nepal played Dohori, a folk music that has roots in the rural courtship traditions. This apart, they also performed popular songs known as sugam sangeet and classical songs.

The Bangladesh students who received huge applaud from audience performed different folk dances and songs.

Apart from foreign countries, Indian universities performed different folk dance, folk music and mimes. Among the Indian universities, Bharatiya Vidyapith, Baba Amravati university, Gandi Ghram university, University of Mumbai, Rajasthan university, Tamilnadu university, N L Mithila University, Bihar, Guru Nanak Dev University, Punjab University, Chandigarh university, Vanasthali Vidyapeeth and Kurukshetra university received huge applause from the audience during their performance.

Md Mamun, assistant secretary of UGC, Bangladesh, who led a team said, “We are very much glad for grand reception by the host university and this type of fest help us to share our culture, ideas and thoughts”.

Kurukshetra is one of the oldest cities of the north Indian state of Haryana. It is known as the setting of the epic poem the Mahabharata.

Kurukshetra university is a NAAC Accredited A+ university in India and it has a sprawling campus spread over 473 acres.