Cultural events to book fair — gear up for grand Bihar Diwas from March 22

Patna: From cultural events to book fair, the Bihar Diwas celebrations from March 22-24, being held after a gap of one year, will be grander in several ways this time than 2023. Last year, no major events were organised owing to the model code of conduct in place due to the general elections.
"The grand scale of the celebrations this time can be gauged from the fact that the event will be held in an area of around 20 lakh sq feet, which is over 70% of the total Gandhi Maidan, which is approximately of 28 lakh sq feet. The entire event area has increased by nearly 2 lakh sqft in comparison to the last Bihar Diwas function held in 2023," said Pankaj Kumar, architect with Bihar Education Project Council, who is looking after the preparations.
Baidyanath Yadav, also looking after the preparations on behalf of the education department — the nodal agency for organising the functions — said that visitors would get to know about the various ongoing schemes of the department in an interactive and lively way. Nearly 40 departments, including the new ones like animal husbandry, rural works, cooperative, public health engineering, road construction and sugarcane, besides Bihar museum will display their works and ongoing schemes at their pavilions.
About the cultural attractions, Yadav said famous playback singers like Abhijeet Bhattarcharya, Ritika Raj, and Pratibha Baghel and Salman Ali, would perform on March 22, 23 and 24 respectively. "Classical singers and dancers will perform at Rabindra Bhawan during the three days, while a ‘Hasya Kavi Sammelan' by Padma Shri Surendra Sharma and team will be held on the last day," said Yadav.
Parallel cultural events, including Bharatnatyam and kathak dance performances, folk and Sufi songs, and classical music, besides a performance by famous comedian Sugandha Mishra, will also take place at S K Memorial Hall from 6pm between March 22 and 24.
A book fair is also being organised by National Book Trust (NBT) till March 27, accommodating 100 publishers in 250 stalls. "Total area for the book fair has been increased to around 60,000 square feet, 10 times more than the last time," said Yadav. Various competitions will also be organised at the book fair for schoolchildren, said an NBT official.
"State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) will give live demonstrations on model school and other related activities. The SCERT will come up with 29 activities in comparison to only nine till last time," said the official.
Patna district magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh said that gate numbers 1 and 4 would be exclusively reserved for entry and exit of VIPs and artists, while general public would be allowed through gates 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, and 12 would be for exclusive use by media people.