Dressed in a colourful ‘pattu pavadai’ (silk skirt), jasmine flowers on her hair, bangles and earrings, ‘Madurai Meena’ is all set to be the temple city’s brand ambassador for culture and heritage throughout the globe and will start her journey on February 27.
Gaurie Gupta, in charge of the programme, which is a part of ‘Madurai Vizha’ hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) says that they plan to reach out to the world with the doll. Twenty replicas have been made of this hand-painted, two feet tall wooden doll and will be sent to people of different countries with some information on Madurai. Organisers hope that people who receive the package will not merely retain her as a souvenir but send her on a chain of journeys, taking the message of Madurai and its culture.
The three-day second edition of ‘Madurai Vizha’, which was inaugurated on Friday, is being hosted by the CII. It is an initiative of the tourism wing of CII to showcase the rich culture and heritage of Madurai to the outside world.
At the venue, visitors could witness sculptors making stone sculptures and garland makers stringing the famous ‘Madurai jasmine’. There were cultural programmes showcasing the various art forms such as ‘poikal kudirai’ and ‘karakattam’, local cuisine to suit the taste buds and even the ‘ilavattakal, the round stone that young men had to carry over their shoulder and prove their might to win the hand of the girl of his choice.
The receivers of Madurai Meena have just one duty to perform, that is, to take a photograph of themselves with the doll in front of a famous landmark in his or her city or town and upload it on the special webpage, which is linked to the website | Madurai Tourism.
CII hopes that Meena would be photographed in front of the Buckingham palace, Statue of Liberty, Sydney Opera House, Vatican and even the Alps and Amazon. The objective is to create a chain of the doll across various countries, without age barriers, who will become aware of Madurai’s ancient history, culture and heritage while keeping track of the doll on her webpage. When a person uploads a photograph of himself with Meena on her webpage he or she will promptly receive a postcard from the organisers.
The doll will begin its journey on February 27 and people can start tracking her journey from the second week of March 2012. It is hoped that this doll will form a social network of people, interested in the culture and heritage of Madurai and visit this ancient city.
source: http://www.penmai.com / February 27th, 2012