Death anniv celebrated in Sanwariya Folk Cultural Social Institute campus; folk artists of Jai Akhara remembered Sanwariya Guru via singing
Karchana, Prayagraj: A tribute program was organized at the Sanwaria Folk Cultural Social Institute campus on the death anniversary of the late Ramlochan Vishwakarma ‘Sanwaria Ji’, a renowned folk dramatist, folk literature writer, poet, and artist born in the village council of Gandhiyan in the Karchana area. On this occasion, folk artists paid their respectful homage to him by garlanding and offering flowers on his portrait and sang and performed folk songs and poems composed by him.
The late Ramlochan Vishwakarma ‘Saawariya Ji’ made significant contributions to the fields of folk theatre, drama, folk songs, and literature. He composed numerous folk plays and dramas related to social concerns. Among his most well-known works are ‘Chhin Lo Roti’, ‘Bairagia Nala’, ‘Abla Nari’, ‘Achhut Kanya’, ‘Indal Haran’, ‘Shri Krishna-Arjun’, ‘Praveer Sangram’, ‘Zehrili Nagin’, ‘Namak Ka Daroga’, based on the works of Munshi Premchand, ‘Khushhal Basti’, ‘Dhool Ka Phool’, and ‘Sati Savitri’.
He also composed in various folk song genres, including Belwaria, Kajri, Cantonment Song, Ghazal, and Sohar. In the program, artists brought alive Sanwaria Ji’s memories by presenting folk songs and poems composed by him, accompanied by dholak, harmonium, manjira, and kartal.
At the event, his son Vedananda Vishwakarma ‘Veda Sanwaria’ said that he is trying to carry forward his father’s folk tradition and his creative legacy. Through the Sanwaria Folk Cultural Social Institute, a platform is being provided to new talents by organizing workshops on folk drama, nautanki, folk songs and various folk genres. In various village councils of Prayagraj district, the work of preserving, promoting and propagating folk genres is also being done by giving free training in folk genres to students from primary school to inter college.
He said that Sanwariya Ji’s works were not merely a medium of entertainment, but also contained a message of social awareness and awakening against social evils. A pledge was made to bring his folk forms to school children and the younger generation, and to preserve this cultural heritage.
During the event, folk artists, senior artists, youth, women, and villagers paid tribute to Sanwariya Ji by offering flowers to his portrait. The artists pledged to continue organizing programs in his memory and, following his path, preserve and promote folk art and folk literature.
On this occasion, folk singers Rajendra Kumar Gupta, Jagdish Prasad Yadav ‘Ganwar’, Amar Bahadur, Lalbabu, Arun Kumar Vishwakarma, Satyanarayan Gaun, Manik Chandra ‘Rasiya’, Shrikant Vishwakarma, Subhash Chandra Vishwakarma, Prabhat Vishwakarma, Ramesh Vishwakarma, Dharampal Vishwakarma, Prakriti, Varsha along with senior folk artists of Jai Hind Akhara, young artists, women and a large number of rural and regional people were present. At the end, the artists and the people present paid their respectful homage to him with the slogans “Jai Sanwariya Guru Ji” and “Long live the folk theatre expert Ramlochan Vishwakarma ‘Sanwariya Ji’”.
