Kalimpong is preparing for a five-day festivity starting from January 15 close on the heels of Darjeeling’s MELOtea festival last month.

The organisers of the Maga Sagrati cultural festival have lined up a series of events on the Mela Ground, which is situated at the centre of Kalimpong town.

“The festival will start with a rally following a puja in the Relli stream. The main event will be held on the Mela ground in Kalimpong,” said Bhuwan P. Khanel, a member of the organising committee.

Anit Thapa, the chief executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), will inaugurate the festival.

Apart from performances by well-known singers from the region like Thupten Bhutia, Sachin Singh and Anmole Gurung, the famous Darjeeling Carnival band will perform during the festival.

“We will also have folk song competitions and also display our traditional instruments and other cultural tools,” said Khanal.

The organisers have also decided to stage a drama, Bhanu and Pala which is a political satire on the hill leaders during the festivities.

The festival, despite being organised by a committee, has the support of the ruling dispensation in the Darjeeling hills.

Kalimpong MLA Ruden Sada Lepcha is also expected to be present at the events.

“The event highlighting the culture and tradition of the region comes at a time when a group of youths in Kalimpong started organising cultural events in the region,” said an observer hinting that the ruling dispensation’s interest in holding the event could also have been triggered by the initiatives taken by the youths of Kalimpong.

From December 22 to 24, Darjeeling police had organised MELOtea festival attracting top performers from across the country. The annual Darjeeling Hill Marathon — the biggest running event in north Bengal — was also held on the last day.

The 157th battalion of the Border Security Force (BSF) under the Guwahati frontier organised a civic action programme-cum-medical camp at Maheshmari High School in Cooch Behar near the India-Bangladesh border on Wednesday. Sports kits, agriculture spray machines, stationery items, water purifiers and other miscellaneous items worth around Rs 4.51 lakh were distributed among the border population. Also, 650 villagers in the bordering area were provided with free medical consultation and medicines by medical officers of the battalion as well as doctors of MJN Medical College and Hospital in Cooch Behar, said sources. The Telegraph