ON the sand dunes of Jaisalmer, this month the annual desert festival ended with a whimper. While tourism officials boasted that tourist arrivals had gone up, in Jaisalmer everyone was anticipating a big party. While Jaisalmer remembered the festival’s 25th anniversary, the Rajasthan Tourism Depart- ment Corporation (RTDC) forgot all about one of its most popular festivals.
So like every year, the district administration rustled up an act and the tourism department officials arrived a few days earlier and made their presence felt. As always the kalbeliya dancers twirled around, the musician sang, hosiery was sold at the crafts mela and many disappointed people went back home with a heavy heart.
‘‘When it began in 1978, it was a beautiful idea,’’ remembers Tripti Pandey, who was part of the first festival. ‘‘It was decided that everything that represents the desert would be showcased. This time, I went back to celebrate its survival and came back anguished over its slow demise.’’
Like Pandey, there are many who can’t get over how conveniently the tourism department forgot. Or why undergarments and shoes were on display at a ‘‘hastshilpa mela’’.
Admitting that the 25th anniversary “slipped out of their minds”, tourism officials defend their role , saying they were busy with increasing tourist arrivals.
‘‘Which is exactly the point,’’ says a retired tourism official. ‘‘So many come and we are not able to give them the real thing. Instead we put up tired shows and instead of focussing on Rajasthani traditions everyone is busy putting up laser shows.’’
‘‘Not fair,’’ say tourism officials, who claim that they have bigger and better plans for the future.
At present, the department says it is focussing on 13 festivals across the state. ‘‘Our aim is to have qualitatively good shows which is why we are putting all our energies into these festivals only,’’ says G.S. Gangwal, in-charge of all the festivals and fairs in Rajasthan. ‘‘We want them to be the best and every year we try and introduce something new, like the laser show in Pushkar.’’
The department has an annual budget of about Rs 95 lakh to organise these fests. This year, a substantial chunk of this money, Rs 25 lakh, was spent on a parade down the Janpath in Jaipur. As part of the Virasat festival, the tourism department organised a big parade, with 400 artists marching down the streets of the pink city.
In comparison, the 25th Jaisalmer festival got Rs 13 lakh and the Pushkar fair Rs 10 lakh, most of which was spent on the laser show. A major portion of this money is spent on paying artists who perform at these festivals.
‘‘And we want to encourage as many of as possible,’’ adds Gangwal. ‘‘Which is why we ensure that even district festivals have their fair share of traditional artists.’’
While the department does 13 festivals, across the state every district is busy putting up its own show. And they all get a little grant from RTDC.
“In the mid-80s, festivals and fairs became the focus of the tourism department,” recalls Mukesh Gupta of the Morarka Foundation that organises the annual Shekhawati festival. “After the success of the Pushkar and Jaisalmer fairs a policy was adopted to promote festivals to spread tourist arrivals across the state.”
In 1996, along with the district administration Gupta’s team organised the first Shekhawati festival, focussing on reviving traditional games and also the cuisine.
‘‘A couple of years down the line, the three district administrations of Churu, Jhunjhunu and Sikar decided to organise individual festivals and so now including ours, there are four Shekhawati festivals,’’ Gupta adds.
What began with a bang is turning into a ‘‘monotonous, routine act’’. While the department looks at the bigger picture, the nitty-grity’s are left to the imagination of district officials. With the industries department also butting in with their melas and everyone “collaborating but nobody actually doing much”, the famed festivals of Rajasthan are slowly losing their charm. The tourists are still coming because the desert still fascinates them. But the idea of creating an Edinburgh festival in Rajasthan seems to have been buried deep in the sand dunes.