Friday 29 July 2016

Rural Development & Panchayats Deptt Punjab Celebrates Teej Festival

By Tricitynews Reporter
Chandigarh 28th July:- Gaiety and Traditional fervour marked the Teej Celebrations organised by the Rural Development & Panchayats Department, Punjab. It was a day of fun and frolic, as ladies clad in colourful dresses enjoyed them at the City Park, Sector 68, Mohali, to glorify the rich heritage and culture of Punjab.
Dressed in colourful and traditional attires, guests including the wives of local Officers, women representatives of Panchayati Raj Societies and the women employees of various government departments had a good time during the Teej festival. On this occasion they performed folk dances of Punjab. The women enjoyed the main attraction of the festival- the swings decorated with flowers.  The place reverberated with the beat of drums. The participants presented songs from a series of their choicest collections. Special attraction of the day was “Teej Queen” competition. Rajbir Kaur of Kapurthala was selected as the Teej Queen.
Sikander Singh Maluka, Rural Development & Panchyats Minister Punjab, sharing his feelings said that earlier people, particularly those in rural areas used to celebrate Teej in a big way. But with the passage of time, the festivities have lost their glory and are confined to a few common places like educational institutions in the urban areas and symbolic celebrations for the entertainment of children in villages. He said that among the chosen representatives of Panchayati Raj working system one third populations is of women officers and members. To encourage their friendly association with each other, department has taken such initiative.  He added that Teej celebrations nowadays are vapid due to many reasons, mainly the growing individualism in the society, degradation of social values, change in the professional temperament of people and missing of big trees of peepal and neem on the banks of village ponds and the outskirts of the village which used to serve the purposes for putting swings earlier.
He added that during the month of Shravan, a decade or two ago, women used to go in the groups for swinging in gardens after completing their domestic chores and used to sing folk songs. Talking about the decline in the trend of Teej celebration, he attributed it to the rapid growth of entertainment means through electronic media. He added that earlier, major occasions of entertainment used to be the festivals, Today’s young girls hardly remember shravan folk songs and it shows a decline in our folk culture. Minister also crowned the Teej Queen on this occasion.
The minister said that that our young generation is following the western culture today and forgetting their rich cultural heritage. He said that by organising this type of an event an attempt has been made by the department to put in its bit to save the rich cultural heritage of Punjab and portray one of its fast fading aspects to the new generation so that they may be acquainted with our cultural heritage. 
Besides the female government employees, the members of prominent Non Government Organisations, social workers, the wives of local Officers, Secretary Depinder Singh Director Sukhjit Singh Bains Chief Engineer Parkash Singh, Deputy Director Kaur Butter & Editor Sade Pind Magazine Jagtar Singh Sidhu also participated in the celebrations.



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