Ratnavali folk festival moved to November 1-4 for President Murmu's visit

Ratnavali, the state-level festival of Haryanvi folk culture held every year at Kurukshetra University, has been moved to Sunday, November 1 to Wednesday, November 4, 2026, so that President Droupadi Murmu can open it on Haryana Day. The festival had earlier been announced for October 30 to November 2. According to reports published on October 27 and 28, the President will attend the state-level celebration of Haryana's 60th foundation day on the university campus on November 1, inaugurate Ratnavali, release the festival brochure and visit an exhibition on the state's folk art and culture.

Ratnavali is the main stage on which Haryana's young people perform the state's own folk forms, rather than film or pop culture alone. Students from colleges and universities across the state compete in dozens of categories: folk dance such as the women's loor dance, folk song, ragini, saang (Haryana's traditional open-air folk theatre), instrumental music, skits, choreography and traditional crafts. Earlier editions also put Haryanvi pop songs on the main stage, which shows how the festival tries to link old forms with what young audiences listen to today.

Kurukshetra University's Vice-Chancellor, Som Nath Sachdeva, has said the festival is organised for Haryana Day to preserve and showcase Haryanvi folk culture. That aim matters because many of these forms survive mainly through village gatherings, weddings and seasonal fairs. Saang troupes and ragini singers have fewer patrons than a generation ago, and a competitive campus festival gives young performers a reason to learn the songs, steps and costumes from older artists.

The rescheduling also changes the scale of this year's edition. A presidential inauguration on the state's 60th foundation day turns a university festival into the centrepiece of the official celebration. The exhibition the President is to visit is meant to show Haryana's progress in sport, farming, industry and culture, placing folk heritage alongside the state's modern record.

The setting adds meaning. Kurukshetra is revered in Hindu tradition as the land where the Bhagavad Gita was spoken, and the Maa Bhadrakali Temple on the President's itinerary is a major place of worship for devotees of the Goddess. Swami Shraddhanand, whose centenary is being marked at the Gurukul, was an Arya Samaj leader and educator who founded the Gurukul Kangri; the centenary recalls his death in 1926.

Short-term: Students, colleges and troupes registered for the festival have had to shift travel and rehearsal plans by two days. Kurukshetra district officials have been given duties for security, traffic, protocol and sanitation around the President's visit, so visitors to the campus and the Bhadrakali Temple area on November 1 should expect restrictions.

Long-term: The national attention of a presidential opening could help folk forms such as saang, ragini and loor win more support, including funding for training, recordings and performance opportunities beyond the festival week. Whether that happens will depend on what the state's cultural departments do after the 60th anniversary year.

Who is affected: Student artistes and their teachers, folk performers who train them, Kurukshetra University staff, residents and pilgrims in Kurukshetra and Panipat, and audiences interested in Haryana's living traditions.

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