Jatra Festival Kicks Off In Indore: A Celebration Of Marathi Culture & Cuisine Draws Huge Crowds

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The three-day Jatra festival (mega trade fair and Marathi food festival) organised by the Marathi Social Group began on Friday at Poddar Plaza, Gandhi Hall. The annual event saw a huge turnout of food and culture enthusiasts on its very first day. The event was inaugurated by MP Shankar Lalwani, MLA Golu Shukla, collector Asheesh Singh, Dr Sushil Monsotra from MDH and other esteemed guests.

The official timings of the event was kept from 2 to 11 pm for the visitors but on the first day the people started arriving at the venue around 12 pm. Sudhir Dandekar and Rajesh Shah from the organising committee shared that just like every year, this time too, the citizens are giving an overwhelming response to the event.

Trupti Mahajan and Sumedha Bawkar, food zone in-charge, mentioned that food lovers began arriving from the morning itself to taste delicious Maharashtrian dishes. Harshvardhan Likhite said the Kala Ranjana Group led by Maharashtra’s famous Darshan Satam gave a powerful Lavani performance.

MP Lalwani recalled that until 2000, Jatra used to be organised at Abhay Prashal, but due to the increasing popularity of the event, the venue became too small. "I was the one who suggested shifting the event to Poddar Plaza. I am extremely happy to see that the organisers are not only promoting culture but also spreading the message of cleanliness across Indore and all of Central India," he added.

The collector shared that when he was posted as the municipal commissioner in Indore, he was pleased with the fact that this massive event can be zero-waste. “It was from this event that I realised no one can stop a city with such aware citizens from becoming number one,” he added.