Shadow Correspondent
KATRA OCT 18:
The prestigious Navratra Festival in the holy town of Katra came to a musical conclusion last evening with Kaustubh from Rajasthan & Khushi Shubh from Chamba (Himachal Pradesh), emerged as joint winners in mega final of All India Devotional Song Competition.
The mega event was concluded amidst chanting of Bhajans and beating of drums at Yog Ashram Complex. The joint winners shared the prize worth Rs three lakh in shape of gold whereas 2nd position holder Anmol Raja from Punjab and third position holder Sukhjinderjit from Amritsar awarded with gold worth One lakh and Rs 50,000 respectively. Pertinently, out of 11 mega finalists, 06 contestants were from outside the state. CEO, SMVD Shrine Board, Simrandeep Singh, who was the Chief Guest on the occasion, during his address, complimented the organizers for organizing the competition on such a large platform and thanked all the stakeholders for extending their cooperation in making it a grand success and especially the people from film and media fraternity for supporting it.
On the occasion, renowned Bollywood Singer Pawni Pandey, known for her play back singing in movies like Raees,Barelley Ki Barfi, Welcome Back and Phallouri and famous Punjabi Singer, Balkar Sidhu enthralled the audience through their mesmerizing performances.
Former Advisor to Governor, Parvez Dewan, noted Bollywood & Media personalities including Managing Director Venus Records & Tapes Ltd. Ganesh Jain, famous play back singer Pawani Panday and Balkar Sidhu ,Vice President Zee Network Barkha Arora, were the judges of the mega final, whereas Operations Head Mh One group Savita Jhingans and Consultant Colours TV Pankaj bagrecha were special invitees on the occasion.
Director Tourism, Jammu, O P Bhagat, while speaking on the occasion said the live telecast of the event all over the world has given vast publicity to the event that will give a certain boost to the religious tourism in the region. Deputy Commissioner Reasi, Prasanna Rama Swami, Commandant CRPF Jitender Kumar Gupta, SDM Katra Ashok Choudhary, CEO Katra Development Authority S.P Mehra, Programming Head 98.3 Radio Mirchi, Khushboo Mattoo , Yog Acharya Swami Yoga Nand ji Maharaj,Shyam Lal Kesar ,Virender Kesar and prominent citizens from all walks of life were also present on the occasion.
Chairman, All India Devotional Competition and President Hotel & Restaurant Association, Katra, Rakesh Wazir conducted the proceeding of the competition.
All India Devotional Song Competition was jointly organized by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, J&K Tourism in association with Shradha Mh One & J&K Bank with the active support of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Narayana Super Specialty Hospital, Surya Milk ,Pure Roots Herbal, Nidesh Builders Pvt Ltd Jammu, Divinity, Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM, PHDCCI, Yog Ashram Trust , District Administration and the local host Community.
