Visitors at the National Heritage Festival in Hotel Brahmaputra on Sunday. Picture by Eastern Projections

March 27: Connoisseurs of handloom and handicraft items are flocking to the National Heritage Festival at Hotel Brahmaputra Ashok.

National award-winning artisans are exhibiting their creations at the 15-day-long expo.

The mega event got under way yesterday after it was inaugurated by chief minister Tarun Gogoi.

The festival is being organised by the Indian Tourism Development Corporation Ltd (ITDC) in conjunction with the Union ministry of textiles.

More than 150 master craftsmen, including two national awardees, are representing various states. They are drawing large crowds to their respective stalls, which boast an exclusive range of artefacts.

K. Talukdar from Calcutta, for instance, has arrived here to accolades. He has not only won a national award for his shola art, but has become a brand name throughout the country.

?I didn?t know that Assamese people are also aware about my craft and so many would throng my stall from the very first day,? he smiled. ?I am happy with the huge response and appreciation from the buyers. I am keen to visit the rest of the region with my shola art products.?

K. Venkatachapalati, another national award winner expert in pearl-working and woodcarving from Hyderabad, echoed his view.

?Indeed, it?s great to see that on the second day of the event, a good number of handloom and handicraft lovers are visiting the expo,? said ITDC deputy general manager (eastern region) S.P. Saha. ?Seeing the rush, we can hope that the festival will be a grand success, as we have seen in other parts of the country.?

The festival has travelled to Hyderabad, Gurgoan, Calcutta, Bangalore and other parts of the country.

This is its first stop in the Northeast. After Guwahati, the festival will travel to other parts of the region.

Other special attractions for the people of the city and other parts of the region at the festival are works in zari, zardari, woodwork, carvings, bronze items, tribal crafts, hand embroidery, woollen carpets and shawls.

?The main aim behind organising the festival is to showcase our rich handloom and handicraft culture in different parts of the country,? said Saha.