G20 guests visit Lucknow’s heritage sites
The delegates were first taken to The Residency in eight buses, where they were joined by district magistrate Surya Pal Gangwar and welcomed by bandhani dupattas on arrival.
Delegates from G20 nations were on Tuesday escorted to some of the prominent heritage sites—The Residency, Bara Imambara and Rumi Darwaza—in the city. The heavily guarded sites were, as such, closed for the general public in the evening.
The delegates were first taken to The Residency in eight buses, where they were joined by district magistrate Surya Pal Gangwar and welcomed by bandhani dupattas on arrival. The tour was interspersed with performances by the Gorkha Regiment pipe band and a CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) band.
The trip to Imambara proved to be more entertaining for the guests, who were flanked by police officers on horses and women representatives from Lucknow Chikankari Society. Municipal commissioner Inderjeet Singh and divisional commissioner Roshan Jacob welcome the guests there amid the presence of nearly 100 police officers at the venue.
The department of tourism and culture had engaged a shehnai band to give the guests a musical welcome to Imambara. A group of 16 artistes of the Nayak tribe from Sonbhadra performed a ritualistic dance and song called ‘karmanritya’. After the tour ended, the site was lit up with facade lighting, and the guests had an opportunity to rest and grab refreshments before heading for dinner.
