Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Mann Ki Baat address on 24th October 2021 encouraged patriotic fervour and cultural pride by asking us to connect with the colourful art of rangoli making and penning of patriotic songs. In alignment with this vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister, the Ministry of Culture announced the launch of ‘Unity in Creativity’ to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, comprising three competitions: ‘Deshbhakti Geet Writing’ and ‘Lori Writing’ and ‘Rangoli Making’.
To ensure active and widespread Jan bhagidari from all corners of the nation, the competitions were designed to be held at District, State/Union Territory, and National levels. The winners were first selected at the District level, followed by selection at State/Union Territory level, and ultimately at the National level. To further provide impetus to the participants, monetary rewards were announced for the winners of the competition.
Unity in Creativity was very well-received by the masses and garnered over 5.6 Lakh entries from over 600 districts. The majority of entries were from school children and youth and each entry was a beautiful expression of art and patriotism. Rangolis were made of scenes and heroes from India’s freedom struggle, along with symbols of national importance. Similarly, Deshbhakti Geets and Loris brought to life stories of bravery and heroism in the face of oppressive forces. A noteworthy aspect is that the entries for Deshbhakti Geet Writing and Lori Writing competitions were in native languages, embodying the saying about the diverseness of regional languages spoken in India ‘Kos Kos Par Pani Badle, Char Kos Par Bani’. Entries for Deshbhakti Geet Writing were received in 21 languages, and for Lori Writing in 20 difference languages.
After a detailed and thorough uation process featuring a jury of notable artists and writers of the country, 4472 winners for the ‘District’ level were declared on 8th July 2022, followed by the announcement of 272 ‘State/UT’ level winners on 19th September 2022. Sixteen National Level winners shall be celebrated at the grand finale event at Nehru Park, New Delhi on 5th February 2023. Here, the winners shall be facilitated and as a special treat, two songs prepared by Sangeet Natak Akademi using the verse composed by the National level winners shall be debuted.