Dhaka, Nov 28 (IANS) Noted Hindustani classical singer Rita Ganguly enthralled the audience at the launch of a week-long Indian cultural festival - called "Ananda Jagya" - in the Bangladesh capital.

The festival, to go on till Dec 3, would be held simultaneously in Dhaka, Chittagong and Rajshahi. The festival will cover a wide range of presentations covering dance, theatre, fine arts and handicrafts, to be followed by a film festival.

Speaker Abdul Hamid of Bangladesh's Jatiya Sangsad (parliament) opened the festival along with Indian High Commissioner Rajeet Mitter.

"This grand Indian cultural festival 'Ananda Jagya' will definitely strengthen our bilateral cultural relations in their diverse forms," Hamid said.

Hamid lauded the joint effort of the Indira Gandhi Culture Centre (IGCC), High Commission of India in Dhaka and the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA), and expressed confidence that the festival would help bring the people of the two neighbouring countries closer.

Mitter, along with Suresh Goel, director general of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and BSA director general Kamal Lohani formally inaugurated the festival with lighting of the traditional lamp, the Daily Star reported.

"Cultural practices like classical music, Kathak, Manipuri, Bharatnatyam are on in full swing in Dhaka. Our common cultural idiom will be enriched through the exchange and practice of cultural elements of the same origin," said Suresh Goel.

The highlight of the evening was a classical vocal performance by Padma Shri Rita Ganguly and her troupe. The packed audience at the National Theatre Hall of the BSA hailed the artiste as the curtains came up.

Ganguly has given performances in Bangladesh earlier as well.

She has performed in Russia, Britain, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Canada, Pakistan and Afghanistan. She has also produced a musical with artistes from Bangladesh, US, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Her outstanding contributions in the field of classical music brought her the Padma Shri in 2003.

Addressing the audience of cultural enthusiasts, Ganguly said: "I am at a loss for words. I have just come here to say my pronam. I have heard of various kinds of movements being waged across the world. But the language movement has taken place only in Bangladesh. I feel proud that Bangla is my own language."