Over 10,000 artistes dance in Himachal to save girl child

Over 10,000 artistes on Monday performed a folk dance here to highlight the cause of saving the girl child, and were set to create a world record, organisers said.

"More than 10,000 folk dancers, both male and female, donning traditional Himachali dresses performed Kullu Natti (as the folk dance is called) to convey the message of saving a girl child," Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kanwar told IANS.

A total of 14,700 dancers were registered to make the world record and to showcase the rich cultural heritage of Kullu.

"Some of them could not turn up due to inclement weather in the morning," he said.

He said they danced for one hour and took a pledge to work for the cause of the girl child. The community participation was part of the Kullu Dussehra celebrations.

Last year over 8,760 artistes performed a folk dance and entered the Limca Book of Records.

The Guinness Book of World Record's office in London monitored the performance.

Kanwar, the brain behind the event, said the mass dance would be the largest voluntary participation in an event at one point of time.

He said there was no prior category or world record related to the folk dance.

"Our aim was to make a record that is difficult to break," he added.

The week-long Kullu Dussehra festivities, which began on October 22 will conclude on October 28.

--Indo-Asian news Service

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