India has a rich heritage of arts and culture.The Infosys Foundation
is committed to preserve the millennia-old heritage of India by supporting art forms that are threatened with extinction.
The Infosys Foundation honors artisans and provides financial assistance. In Andhra Pradesh, the Foundation is sustaining the tradition of handloom weaving in Pochampalli village. Pochampalli sarees are tied, dyed and woven by hand. Automation has rendered hundreds of weaver-families unemployed.
In Karnataka, the Gamaka is a classical art that combines music, poetry and storytelling. The Foundation is reviving this traditional art by donating Gamaka sets - comprising a Gamaka cassette and record player - to school children in Karnataka.
The Foundation also organizes cultural programs to promote artists. It has felicitated physically challenged musicians and exponents of Yakshagana, a classical folk dance-theatre form from Karnataka. It has sponsored Kala Darshan, a musical program in rural areas, and a folk festival to provide direct market opportunities for rural artisan communities, in which about 100 craftsmen from 20 states participated.
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