Maithili food festival held in Janakpurdham

By Dhirendra Prasad Shah,Janakpurdham, Apr. 29: Janakpurdham Cultural and Maithili Food Festival was organised with the aim of preserving and promoting Maithili art culture in Janakpurdhama on Friday. 

The festival was jointly organised by Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre, the Embassy of India in Kathmandu, the Consulate General of India, Birgunj, Janaki Temple and Samvad Foundation on the occasion of Lord Janaki’s birth anniversary. 

Inaugurating the festival, Hari Shankar Mishra, Province Chief of Madhes Province said that although Nepal and India are separated geographically and politically, the citizens of both countries have,  socially and culturally, a lot of similarities in their traditions, art, culture, lifestyle and costumes. 

He emphasised that such festival should be continued as it was very important to maintain brotherhood and relations between the two countries.

Dr. Vijay Singh, Member of Parliament, said that Mithila art and culture should be propagated at the national and international levels. He said that the traditional Maithili food is very healthy and nutritious and it helps maintain body and boost the 

immune system. 

Sanjurani Mandal, food expert, presented about 56 Bhog and 84 dishes of traditional Maithali food and said that the Maithili foods will increase immunity which helps fight against 

various diseases.

Consulate General of India, Birgunj, Nitish Kumar Shah said that Maithili food is very beneficial from the point of view of health and said that the main objective of the festival was to promote the Maithili foods and bring them into use.

 Dr. Aasawari Tapat, Director of Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre, said that Maithali food has maximum organic nutritious ingredients. She said that since the food of Nepali and Indian citizens is very similar, the Maithali Food Festival was organised to protect the culture of both countries.

Eighty four types of dishes were displayed in the festival. Drama, dance and songs were also performed by various artists in the cultural festival. The artists also exhibited Mithila paintings based on the story of Ram-Sita’s birth to marriage.