LARGEST PARTICIPATION IN FOLK DANCE

Over 9,000 artistes performed a folk dance in Himachal Pradesh to highlight the "Save the Girl Child" message and the event created a world record of largest participation at one point of time, an official said on Tuesday. The performance by 9,892 folk dancers during the Kullu Dussehra celebrations on October 26 2015 in Kullu town has entered the pages of the Guinness World Records, Kullu deputy commissioner Rakesh Kanwar, the brain behind the event, told to newspersons on 11th January 2016.

"The folk dancers assembled at one venue, braving rain and cold, to create the new world record. About 8,500 dancers had participated in the mass folk dance event last year and this year the number of dancers has increased significantly and we have qualified inclusion in Guinness book of world records," the Deputy Commissioner said.

He said a communication in this regard was received from the Guinness World Records authorities on 11th January 2016. Kanwar said the Kullu Natti - as the folk dance is called - was the largest voluntary dance in the world. Dressed in traditional Himachali attire, the dancers performed on October 26 last year. Kanwar said the participants, this time both men and women, also took a pledge to work for the cause of the girl child. He said there was no prior category or world record related to the folk dance. The Guinness World Records office in London monitored the performance. Earlier in 2014, a total of 8,540 artists performed a folk dance also during the Kullu Dussehra festivities and entered the Limca Book of Records. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh lauded the efforts of the Kullu administration for conducting the mega cultural event. The chief minister said he himself witnessed the event organised under the aegis of 'Beti Hai Anmol' which effectively spread the mass awareness on saving the girl child. Himachal Pradesh has now been bracketed among the 10 states having the worst sex ratio in the country at 909 females to 1,000 males. The overall national sex ratio according to the 2011 Census is 940 females per 1,000 males.

The event lasted for about 90 minutes and folk dancers of various regions of Kullu valley performed. About 14,700 dancers had got their names registered for the event but due to bad weather many of them could not reach the venue.

The troupes of folk dancers had started arriving at Dhalpur Maidan from 7.30 AM and the sprawling ground turned colourful by 11.00 AM when the danced actually started and people enjoyed it for nearly 90 minutes.