nagpur with more colours and patterns than a kaleidoscope the closing ceremony of the silver jubilee celebrations of zonal cultural centres left the city breathless as the sun dipped on a cool wintry evening and a full moon shone brightly over kasturchand park the gathering stood together to sing the national anthem marking the conclusion of the yearlong celebrations 750 artists from across the country synchronized their art to create a fusion of dances that were to have been viewed by president pranab mukherjee too unfazed by his absence the artists retained their morale to regale the chief guest banwari lal joshi the governor of uttar pradesh and minister of culture chandresh kumari katoch along with culture ministers of other states too the 100x120 ft stage with six layers had specially been created for this forty five minute programme designed to encapsulate the cross section of indian culture the mood was set by baul singers of west bengal and manganiar singers of rajasthan who sang the signature song kesaria balama padharo mare desh 17 folk dances which included as varied forms as pung cholam from manipur kaikottikali from kerala garagalu from andhra pradesh mayur from uttar pradesh enthralled the audience who were left spell bound by siddhi dhamal dancers from gujarat who broke coconuts flung in the air with their heads all the while swaying to african drum beats dancers from punjab ended the performances with a robust bhangara which saw all the dancers come on stage dancing to the beats the sixday cultural bonanza began on november 10 with an art craft and food festival the entire venue had been split into seven courtyards representing different zonal cultural centres done up to represent the cultural and art forms of the states that they represent these courtyards had wall panels painted in various styles by national award winning artists we placed an advertisement in newspapers for auction of the panels and received seven registrations on friday said ravinder singal who now has to vacate the ground over next two days for a political rally to be held there on november 22 at the opening ceremony in panchkula similar works had to be left behind so over here we made panels on canvass so that they could be sold the base price has been decided by a committee comprising of directors of zcc and artists the proceeds will go to zccs and the artists who have made them