Punjab governor and UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria attended the inaugural day of the annual Mahinder Singh Randhawa Sahitya Kala Utsav, organised by the Punjab Arts Council, at Punjab Kala Bhawan, Sector 16, on Monday.

The five-day festival, which will continue till February 7, will feature theatre seminars, plays and painting workshops, and conclude with an award ceremony.

The event, which is being held this year under the theme “New Creation of Punjab”, festival opened with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp, followed by a musical recital titled “Man Ki Mandali Shabad” by renowned vocalist Nivedita Singh.

Punjab Arts Council chairman Swarnjeet Savi briefed the audience about the upcoming cultural series Sauh Punjab Di. Punjab cultural affairs minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond, the chief guest in the earlier session, highlighted Randhawa’s contributions to Punjab’s cultural and urban heritage.

Keynote speaker Madan Gopal Singh reflected on the idea of the “inner and outer city” and recalled Randhawa’s role in fostering harmony in post-partition Delhi. Researcher Akal Amrit Kaur presented a paper on Punjab Ratna awardee Karamjit Singh, underscoring his four decades of dedication to education.

Governor Kataria later inaugurated a photography exhibition by Dev Inder and presided over the seminar “From Green Revolution to Creative Revolution”. He warned that migration from villages to cities and declining respect for manual labour threatened Punjab’s rural fabric, urging youth to reconnect with dignified work in line with Randhawa’s vision.