The Longest Art of Rangoli

The Longest Art of Rangoli embraces the road on Silchar, Assam

The District Administration of Cachar, Assam, in Silchar, upheld the age-old tradition of rangoli and set a record of creating the longest rangoli on road, measuring 8.18 km to create awareness for voting. This initiative was undertaken to create voter awareness for Assam Assembly Election, 2021, and executed under the leadership of Smti. Keerthi Jalli, IAS, Deputy Commissioner & District Election Officer, Cachar, Silchar.

The street rangoli on Silchar to Sourastro Mahasadak started from Dolu Market to Haticherra Tea Estate. The feat was achieved, on 14th March 2021, with the help of around 1500 volunteers from various organizations involving Para Military forces, SHG volunteers, NSS, NCC, NYKs, College & University students. The event started at 5 A.M. and was completed at about 4 P.M. on the same day, within a time frame of approximately 11 hours.

Talking about what inspired them to make this record, Smti. Keerthi Jalli, IAS, Deputy Commissioner & District Election Officer, says, “During any election awareness program, huge quantity of materials in the form of flex, paper, etc., are usually used. These practices ars adversely harming the environment. Hence, this time the District Administration decided to minimize the use of plastic and paper materials in the election awareness programs and opted for street rangoli. This idea was not only environment friendly but also attracted the attention of voters throughout the district. Moreover, rangoli art is a traditional culture in India and was chosen to inspire female voters. For the same reason, more than 900 female SHG members participated in the record.”

The road to success was not an easy one, as only 30-40 members amongst the participants were skilled, and they had to monitor the rest of the unskilled volunteers. It was a big challenge to manage and monitor a large group of the unskilled taskforce and to complete the task within a limited time frame. Also, the sheer length of Rangoli made the logistic process all the more difficult since the participants were to be placed correctly at the designated spot.

Adjudicator Jitendra Kumar Jain was witness to this magnificent feat, he adds by saying, “This record promotes rangoli, which is an Indian tradition to welcome guests. It is based on the belief of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava.’ This record promotes Indian tradition simultaneously creates awareness on the importance of the vote.” He further adds, “In this event, I witnessed the cooperation between Special Help Group of villagers and college students which portrayed unity in diversity. The Army, BSF, and CRPF personnel were also deployed and dedicatedly served the noble cause.”

Events like this bring out the true spirit of humanity. One of the members of the District Administration narrates a touching incident, “A designated portion of the road was allotted to a group of artists. As soon as they finished their part of the stretch, they proceeded to the part where the process was moving at a slow pace to lend their helping hand. The help they extended to their fellow members was commendable, and because of this spirit of unity amongst the volunteers, the event was successful, and we could achieve the record.”

The District Administration of Cachar, Assam, in Silchar aims to inspire young voters to participate in the biggest festival of democracy, as they believe that whenever they get the chance because every Vote matters.