Antaragni

History

Antarāgni (in Hindi antar means "within" and agni means "fire") stands for 'The Fire Within'. The name of the festival was changed from Culfest to Antaragni in 1993. It began as an inter-collegiate cultural event in 1964, and now draws in over 100 colleges in India. Antaragni is a non-profit organisation run completely by the students of IIT Kanpur.

Dream On campaign

The Dream On campaign allows participants to be mentored by people working in industry. Dream On was held for the first time with Antaragni'12. The winners were provided with direct internship and training opportunities with organisations including Shiamak Davar's Institute for Performing Arts, Barry John Acting Studio, Lalit Parimoo's Acting Academy and Swarnbhoomi Academy of Music.

Events

India Inspired is a political forum, with politicians, leaders and media persons. Issues which are socially relevant and with an emphasis on youth culture are discussed. In the past years it has witnessed participation from the student community and has led to spirited discussions. Speakers at this event have included Shekhar Kammula, noted Telegu film director; Vineet Joshi CBSE chairman; and Vasundhara Das, actress, singer and social activist.

Kavi Sammelan is a poetry competition. Antaragni'10 had Rahat Indori, a painter, professor, poet and film lyricist, and the poet Dr. Kirti Kale whose programs have been broadcast on radio and TV.

Model United Nations was a new event in Antaragni'10. It was the first of its kind in India, with study guides for each committee and other resource support by dedicated in-house executive board. Aside from this, IITK MUN held a Human Rights Council, General Assembly and the Environmental Council. The MUN had participation from 200 delegates from all over India.

Competitions

Competitions in dance, dramatics, fine arts, film and photography, and musicals are conducted. There are also debates, discussions, word games and writing contests in English and Hindi. Many quizzes are held by professional quizmasters. Each of these events has cash prizes and college teams competing for the top prize. Some of the previous filmmaking contests have been judged by established film director like Abbas Tyrewala and Luv Ranjan. Dance events are held in the auditorium, with different styles of dance exhibited.

Junoon and Synchronicity organizes eastern and western band rock competitions.

Workshops and talks

Workshops, talks and exhibitions are held in the festival. The Digital Filmmaking Workshop by Subhash Ghai's Whistling Woods International, Asia's largest film, television, animation and media arts institute, was held in Antaragni'10. Talks in Antaragni usually center around the theme of the festival for that year. Anatargni '10 had the national award-winning film director Mahesh Bhatt, director of several acclaimed art films.

Professional shows

Popular bands and musicians perform under the banner of Blitzkrieg. Blitzkrieg is the celebration at the end of the festival. In the past performances have been held by Poets of the Fall, Glyder, KK, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Farhan Akhtar, Shafqat Amanat Ali and Atif Aslam.

Prima Nocte Antaragni is opened with Prima Nocte, a celebration of IITK culture.

Synchronicity, is a rock festival in which draws rock enthusiasts from all over the country. Indian bands compete over three days and for a chance to win cash prizes worth Rs 1.5 lacs. In Antaragni'10 the bands Weaponshop and Them Clones performed on the final day.

India Haat is a showcase of Indian performing arts, including the heritage of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir, Mizoram, Goa, and others.

Ritambhara is a fashion festival that aims to create a platform for promoting upcoming youth in the fields of design and modelling, with participation from the fashion colleges of India, including NIFDs, and NIFTs.

Championship

An Outstation Championship Trophy is awarded to the college, other than IIT-Kanpur, which has the highest cumulative score in all the individual competitions. Championship trophies are also awarded for the best performances in individual categories of competitions:

Organisation

The festival is organised by the students. The Antaragni chairman is the only faculty member of the team. Organisation is structured into two levels. The core team consists of festival coordinators (overall heads) and the heads of competitions, events, finance, marketing, show management and public relations. Each category of competition is managed by coordinators with help of secretaries and volunteers. Other auxiliary units such as public relations are managed by executives with the help of secretaries and volunteers. A team of nearly 800 students works for 8 months to plan and manage the festival

Participating colleges

Antaragni includes participation from several colleges of the country. University of Delhi (DU) along with colleges from states like U.P., Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana, and colleges from the Kolkata and Mumbai circuit. There is altogether participation from more than 100 colleges nationwide.

Commercial opportunities

The festival has attracted sponsorship from corporations due to participation of students from all over India. Alumni also visit the institute during this time. Companies associated with events of Antaragni have included State Bank of India, Pepsi, PVR, Spykar, Hero Honda, Classmate, UTV, Radio Mirchi, British Council, WWF, DUKE, DIGIT, DHL, LIC, IDEA, Mahindra, Goa Tourism, Virgin Records, VENUS, Dainik Jagran, Jindal Steel&Power, Union Bank Of India, Woodland, Accel Partners, JK White, and Channel V.