National Minicoy Festival begins

National Minicoy Festival begins Minicoy (Lakshadweep): The pristine beaches and the emerald green waters of Minicoy witnessed on Tuesday the opening of the fifthNational Minicoy Festival, organized by the Lakshadweep administration. The festival aims to place the tiny island, in the southern-most part of Lakshadweep, on the global tourism map. The food festival showcased the

delicacies from various parts of the cluster of islands in the Arabian Sea. The two-day event also marked the display of the culture and tradition of the place through folk dance performances, competitions including mini marathon, tug of war and also the 'jahadhoni race', the race of country-made snake boats. The boat race of the festival, which initially began in 1985 following the visit of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, was stopped later and it was revived in 2009. Later, when the National Minicoy Festival began in 2012, it became part of the festival. The prize includes a rolling trophy in the name of the prime minister apart from a cash prize of Rs 4lakh. This time, the boat named 'Furious' from Kendiparty village lifted the coveted trophy.Inaugurating the festival in the specially designed venue on the waters along the western coasts of lagoon, Lakshadweep administrator Farook Khan said the island still faces huge connectivity issues and Union civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who presided over the function, promised to favourably address the concerns.

The minister, in his address, said that the strength of our country is that different languages and multiple religions co-exist in harmony.

The boat race was also marked by air shows by the Indian navy and Indian Coast Guard, apart from the demonstration of rescue operation.

The festival will conclude on Wednesday.