Kolkata's ITC Hotels celebrate Xmas with Bengal's 'alpona', 'shall' leaves

KOLATA: ITC Hotels in Kolkata have gone green again, this Christmas and how.

This Yuletide, ITC Royal Bengal presents a hand-painted “alpona Christmas” while ITC Sonar celebrates Bengal’s heritage for an evergreen celebration using dried shaal leaves.

Like never before, heritage enthusiasts across the world are trying to revive Bengal’s floor art or “alpona”, painted by Bengalis during any auspicious occasion.

ITC Royal Bengal embraces the festive spirit with a contemporary rendition of age-old artistry.

One can witness the adaptation of an ancient craft as a modern Christmas artscape, as hand-painted lines of alpona (traditionally drawn using ground rice and water) imaginatively turn the property's driveway, lobby, and grand staircase into a festive wonderland. The unique journey of wonder has been created in collaboration with heritage revivalist Mudar Patherya and his team of artists Ratnabali Ghosh, Prasanta Sain, Lipika Mukherjee and Moutusi Ghose, culminating in an alpona-themed Christmas tree by artist Tapash Sarkar.

“This is in keeping with our ethos of Responsible Luxury to help sustain the intrinsic flavour of the region. At ITC Hotels, our WelcomArt initiative celebrates indigenous art, providing a platform to local artists. As per tradition, our hand-crafted Christmas trees imbibe modernity, while rejoicing in the cultural heritage of the region,” an ITC Hotels spokesperson said.

She added, “At ITC Sonar, we offer our guests environmental consciousness through sustainability in a luxurious setting. This festive season, we showcase the leaves of the 'shaal' tree as the centrepiece of our winter decorations, drawing upon Bengal's age-old heritage to express the spirit of celebration. The decorations are made with jute and gamcha (the indigenous towel used by rural Bengal), this one of a kind WelcomArt installation has been created by artist Tapash Sarkar.”


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