Russian cultural festival comes to Manipur

The week-long festival, which includes, music, dance and Russian film screenings, is being organised by the RCSC Kolkata and the Manipur Film Development Corporation.

The Gorky Sadan is looking to spread Russian culture to India's northeast. Source: RCSC Kolkata

A week-long Russian cultural festival featuring dance, music, theatre, film shows, literary event and lectures is being held in Imphal, the capital of the northeast Indian state of Manipur. The festival will “go a long way in strengthening the age old cultural relation of friendship and cooperation between India and Russia,” Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh told the Imphal Free Press.


The festival titled ‘Culture for Friendship and Co-operation’ is being jointly organized by the Manipur Film Development Corporation Limited and Russian Centre of Science and Culture (RCSC), Kolkata. The festival also ushers in the launch of Russian-language lessons in the state. Russian will be taught at the Slope Land Public School, Khongjom, a remarkable first of the northeastern part of India.

Irina Bashkirova, the Russian Consul General in Kolkata told the Imphal Free Press that Russia and India have a good relationship since many decades and that the relationship was based on mutual respect. “The friendship we established is cherished till now,” Bashkrova said.

The festival commenced with the screening of two Russian short films ‘Sochi Da’ and ‘Poems on Ice,’ followed by ‘Nangna Kappa Pakchade,’ a Manipuri short film.

The state of Manipur, which borders Myanmar in the east, is referred to as the ‘Switzerland of India’ on account of its unspoilt natural beauty. It is also famous for its Rasa-Leela, one of the major Indian classical dance forms. An insurgency has plagued Manipur since the mid-1960s, but India’s plans to connect the region with Southeast Asia are expected to bring about great development to the state.

The RCSC Kolkata, which is known as Gorky Sadan, is looking to spread Russian culture in the seven north-eastern states of India. The centre was established in 1974 and remains one of the most important foreign cultural centres in India’s large eastern metropolis, formerly called Calcutta.