Russian envoy seeks HP CM's participation in Great Roerich celebrations

Russian Ambassador to India Nikolay R Kudasheva Monday met Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and requested him to participate in the Great Roerich celebrations to be held in October at Roerich Art Gallery in Naggar near Manali. The gallery was set up to commemorate the memory of Nicholas Roerich, who besides being a multi-faceted Russian artist, was also the father-in-law of actor Devika Rani, widely acknowledged as the first lady of Indian cinema.

While accepting Kudasheva's invitation, Thakur said Russia and Himachal Pradesh have several similarities, both topographically as well as culturally, an official spokesperson said. The Roerich Art Gallery established at Naggar in Kullu district by great Roerich was a testimony to the Indo-Russian friendship, the spokesperson quoted the chief minister as saying.

Roerich Art Gallery was established in 1962 to commemorate the memory of Nicholas Roerich, who was a multi-faceted Russian personality, apart from being an artist, painter, writer, archaeologist, theosophist, philosopher and a public figure of Baltic German descent. Nicholas Roerich had arrived in Himachal Pradesh after the 1917 Revolution and stayed near Manali till his death in 1947.

Devika Rani was married to Nicholas Roerich's painter son Svyetoslav Roerich, who established the gallery in 1962 in his father's memory. The building which now houses the gallery once served as the residence of Nicholas Roerich.

The Roerich art gallery is run by a trust jointly formed by the Himachal Pradesh government and the Russian government. Thakur said Russia and Himachal Pradesh could also cooperate in various other fields such as tourism, agriculture and disaster management, the spokesperson quoted the chief minister as saying.

There is also great scope for cultural exchange between Russia and Himachal Pradesh, he added. Russia too is keen to cooperate with Himachal in cultural exchange, tourism and adventure sports, said Kudasheva responding to Thakur's remarks.

The Russian ambassador also promised that his country will have an active participation in Himachal's Global Investors Meet to be held in Dharamshala.

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