- Festival features 53 stalls, over 150 tiger photographs, 63 paintings, live talks and virtual shows
- Eleven distinguished contributors to wildlife conservation felicitated
- Friday to feature “Raahgir Live” and a storytelling session by RPS Siddhant Sharma
Jaipur: The captivating world of tigers—reflecting the heartbeat of nature and the soul of culture—came alive on Thursday at Shilpgram, Jawahar Kala Kendra. The ambience brimmed with conversations, visuals and thrilling experiences centred around tigers. Artistic brilliance blended seamlessly with fascinating wildlife narratives, transforming Shilpgram into a vibrant tiger habitat.
The occasion was the inauguration of the Jaipur Tiger Festival, organised by the Rajasthan Heritage, Art & Cultural Foundation in collaboration with Jawahar Kala Kendra. The four-day festival, scheduled from 11 to 14 December, was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Governor of Rajasthan, Shri Haribhau Kisanrao Bagde.
Dr. Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar, member of the former royal family of Udaipur, and Pawan Arora, CEO of First India News, graced the event as special guests. Dr. S.S. Agrawal, Chairman of Rajasthan Hospital, and festival founder-patron Dhirendra Godha also shared the stage. JTF President Sanjay Khawad, Vice President Sarveksh Agrawal and Secretary Anand Agrawal were present during the ceremony.
The Hon’ble Governor inaugurated the festival by cutting the ribbon. He visited various stalls to learn about wildlife and viewed the photography and art exhibitions. Emphasising Rajasthan’s rich legacy of devotion, valour and environmental stewardship, he highlighted the importance of tiger conservation. He stated that while the government is working extensively in this direction, public participation is equally essential. “The survival of many other wild species depends on the existence of the tiger, which makes its conservation extremely important,” he remarked.
The Governor felicitated the following individuals for their remarkable contributions to wildlife conservation:
Dr. Mahesh Bagdi, M.D. Parashar, Dhiraj Kapoor, Ram Gopal, Sanjeev Sankhla, ACF Vishnu Gupta, Ranger Jitendra Singh, Timmy Kumar, Dr. Uma Joshi, Rajesh Pahadia and Sunit Ghildiyal.
Dr. Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar spoke about the importance of wildlife as depicted in ancient scriptures and shed light on the contributions of erstwhile rulers towards forest conservation. He noted that Rajasthan is a land where both humans and animals have made sacrifices for their soil.
The first day concluded with a dance performance by internationally acclaimed folk artist Rekha Parihar.
The seventh edition of the four-day Jaipur Tiger Festival hosts 53 stalls, including representations from Rajasthan’s five major tiger reserves, an exhibition of over 150 photographs by leading wildlife photographers, tiger paintings and live sketching, a postage stamp collection by India Post, virtual shows, storytelling sessions, Panchatantra tales, literary discussions, cultural performances and an open stage.
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Friday’s Highlights: Raahgir Live & Storytelling by RPS Siddhant Sharma
On 12 December, from 10:30 to 11:00 AM, Neeraj Chandra will conduct a storytelling session. Aarunya Prashar will present a poem and performance on Ethical Safari. This will be followed by a Panchatantra storytelling session by Uma Joshi. Darsh Peswani will conduct the “Percussion Pulse” session. After the open stage, RPS Siddhant Sharma will present a storytelling session.
From 5:00 to 7:30 PM, young artist Raahgir will enthral the audience with his poetry and musical performances.
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