The Taj Mahotsav Festival

The Taj Mahotsav is one of the largest and most prominent handcrafts festivals of North India. The festival is held in the city of Agra every February and is a ten day affair.

The venue of the Taj Mahotsav festival is at Shilpgram near the Taj Mahal, Agra’s most iconic monument. The event is stylized in the form of the era of the Mughal Empire which ruled India from the 16th to the 19th century.

The Mughal Empire oversaw a period of cultural renaissance in India and many of the country’s most well-known monuments, art-forms and ceremonies reached their cultural zenith due to the patronage of various Mughal rulers.

Taj Mahal, Agra

The Taj Mahotsav Festival highlights the rich culture, arts, crafts, Cuisine music and dance forms particularly of the “Doab Region” of Uttar Pradesh which includes most major cities that served as capitals of the Mughal Empire. The festival is also known by its other name the Taj Mahal Utsav.

The festival is a great opportunity for the renowned artisans of the region to display their magnificent works of art. The festival also provides a good avenue to the visiting foreign tourists to get some authentic Indian souvenirs made through traditional processes.

The Taj Mahotsav festival commences with a splendid procession inspired by Mughal themes. The procession is led by beautifully ornamented camels and elephants followed by folk artists, drummers and master craftsmen. The Taj Mahotsav festival also has a major showcase exhibition that includes silks of Banares, handmade carpets of Bhadohi, woodcarvings of Saharanpur, chikan work of Lucknow, blue pottery of Khurja as well as Zardozi and Marble works from Agra

In recent years, offerings at the Taj Mahotsav festival have been broadened to include arts from other states of India as well. Visitors to the festival can also look forward to shopping for Bamboo work from South India, brass works from Moradabad, shawls and carpets from Kashmir, hand-printing from Farrukhabha, Kantha stitch saris from Bengal and weavings from Gujarat.

Throughout the course of the Taj Mahotsav festival there are some amazing performances by the folk artists from the different states of India. These include theatrical renditions, dance performances as well as process demonstrations of their various artistic crafts.