Embassy of India

Antananarivo, Madagascar

The concluding event of the Festival of India in Madagascar, being organized by the Embassy of India with the support of the Ministry of Culture - Government of India and SangeetNatakAkademy New Delhi, is an Indian Folk Dance Performance popularly known as Garba originating in the Indian states Gujarat. The performances will be on Friday 27th November, at EspaceSalohy, Antananarivo and on Sunday 29th November 2015, at “Maison de la Culture”, Mahajanga. These shows will be presented by a group of 14 Indian folk dancers from Aavishkar Academy of Performing Arts, Ahmedabad (Gujarat), who will be coming to Madagascar to perform and entertain the audience.

The Festival of India in Madagascar started with the inaugural ceremony on 24th September, 2015 followed by a fusion of dances performed by the Nrityaroopa Dance Troupe crafted by the SangeetNatakAkademy for the Festival of India.Thereafter, the last two months were filled with activities like Bhangara dance performances in Antananarivo and Toamasina, Mehandi Art Application in Antananarivo and Toamasinaagain and Indian Food Festival at Hotel Ibis, Antananarivo for which two renowned chefs from India were especially flown to present their mouthwatering dishes to the connoisseurs of Indian cuisine in Madafgascar.

The objective of the Festival of India is to enlighten the friendly people of Madagascar and other countries with various facets of Indian culture and rich cultural heritage. Another important objective of the Festival is to exchange culture between India and Madagascar, which is a must for strengthening political and economic relations between the two countries. This is the first time that such a Festival has been organized in Madagascar and we hope that such endeavours will continue from the two sides in future as well. The Embassy is thankful to the Malagasy authorities, people at large and the Indian Diaspora for being so receptive, encouraging and being so supportive of the various cultural events organized by the Embassy of India in Madagascar.

It is a well-known fact that more than 80% of the Indian diaspora in Madagascar is of Gujarati origin and that is the reason why the concluding eventwas chosen from Gujarat. Garba performances in Antananarivo and Mahajanga areindeed a befitting finale of the Festival of India.

The Entry to the shows in Antananarivo on 27th November and in Mahajanga on 29th November are free but “By Invitation Only”. Anybody who is interested to watch these performances live, at any of these two places, may please contact the Indian Embassy for an Invite on Tel.020-2223334 or 020-2227156; or by  email:

hoc.aanarivo@mea.gov.in or indesecamb@blueline.mg or harissoa@yahoo.fr ]