Taj Mahotsav is an annual 10-day event at Shilpgram in Agra, India. This festival invokes the memories of the old Mughal era and nawabi style prevalent in Uttar Pradesh in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is mainly dedicated to the promotion of the country's rich art and craft, culture, cuisine, dance, and music. It serves as an acknowledgment to the craftsmen as well as the exponents of art, music, and cuisine from all over the country.
Who Started Taj Mahotsav
Celebrated every year with enthusiasm in Agra, Taj Mahotsav, a 10 days carnival organized by the Tourism Ministry of Uttar Pradesh. It aims at excelling Tourism of India for domestic as well as international tourists.
A large number of Indian and foreign tourists coming to Agra join this festivity of multi-facets. The venue of the festival of Taj Mahotsav is Shilpgram, which is a stone's throw away distance from the Taj Mahal. The festival starts with a procession, including bejeweled elephants and camels, drum beaters, folk artists, and master craftsmen. A major highlight of this festival is the availability of fabulous works of art and craft at the most authenticated prices that are not skyrocketed by high maintenance costs. This procession is an effort to reconstruct the ones that were taken out during the time of the Mughals. The crafts that are displayed in the festival have immense variety as over 400 legendary artisans from different parts of the country get an opportunity to showcase their talent. The crafts include woodcarvings of Saharanpur, brass and other metalware of Moradabad, handmade carpets of Badohi, blue pottery of Khurja, Chikan work of Lucknow, the silk of Varanasi, pottery from Khurja, shawls, and carpets from Kashmir/Gujarat, hand printing from Farrukhabad, wood/stone carvings from Tamil Nadu, bamboo/cane work from North East India, Kantha stitch from West Bengal, and paper & mash work from South India. Additionally, visitors also get to witness some of the spectacular performances by artists from every nook and corner of the country. The folk dances are sure to engulf you in their charisma and keep you enthralled for a long time. One of the major attractions of the Taj Mahal Mahotsav of Agra is the Food Festival, where you can get some of the oldest and the most typical delicacies from the interiors of Uttar Pradesh and the rest of India like chole bhature, Indian samosa, poori sabji, gulab jamun, Lucknavi kebab, South Indian dosa, Amritsari naan, Hyderabadi biryani, etc. Throughout the Mahotsav, the visitors can experience the richness of folk, classical music, and dances from various regions of the country in the way they were performed centuries ago.