Cultural Events at IISER Mohali

IISER conducts two major cultural events in an academic year: the IISER Mohali Fest (INSOMNIA) which is conducted in March/April and a Cultural Evening organized in September/October. The institute fest is generously supported by the institute both logistically and financially and typically the students also get funds from external sponsors. Apart from these two major events the 16 registered clubs of IISER Mohali conduct various extracurricular events and celebrate various festivals all year round. Typically these events are organized solely by students and the funds for the festival celebrations came from voluntary contributions from students and the faculty.

Outlined below are  the highlights of the cultural activities of students in the academic year 2013- 2014:

Special cultural activities including singing, dance and drama were organised on the occasions of Independence day and Republic day. Additionally, a cultural evening and musical evening were also held. The annual cultural fest of IISER Mohali. Insomnia 2016 was held in March.This saw participation from many different colleges in various science and cultural events. Parikrama, one of the most respected rock bands of India, was invited for a special musical performance. Other than these, activities like quizzes, talks/seminars, painting competition, T-shirt painting, sky-watching sessions, subject based Dumb charades, debates, essay/poetry competition, etc were organised regularly by the students. While our Bhangra team went on the state finals in the MTV Colors of Youth : Season 5, our quizzing team won the regionals of Tata Crucible Campus Edition 2016.

Onam: The month of September was also marked by the celebration of the harvest festival of Kerala, Onam. The students made traditional flower rangolis and performed a classical dance to mark the occasion which was followed by and many fun-games.

Diwali: The festival of lights was celebrated with much fanfare. The student representative council and Rang (Arts club) decorated the campus with diyas and lights. This was followed by a firework show and the event concluded with the students dancing to the tunes of a DJ.

Lohri: The cultural activity of the year 2014 began with the celebration of Lohri in the month of January. The students built a bonfire and performed Bhangra dance to mark the occasion. The Director and Dean (students) also gave out the prizes for the winner of a photography competition, CAPTURE IT, conducted by Photography and Videography Club of IISERM.

Basant Panchami: The festival marks the onset of spring and is celebrated as Saraswati Puja in West Bengal. Students organized a small cultural evening to celebrate the spring festival. The evening began with an invocation and was followed by traditional Bengali songs and dance. Dinner in the mess was made more interesting with Khichdi served to all along with sweets.

Competitions: The students of IISER Mohali participated and won several inter-college competitions at the national level. These include Inter-IISER Sports Meet, TATA Crucible quiz, IIM Ahmedabad quiz, PECFEST etc. The director of IISER Mohali distributed prizes to the winners of various sports events on Independence Day 2013 and Republic Day 2014. The students also organized and participated in other events at IISER Mohali including the Math week, CHEM week and Teacher’s day celebration. The members of the Photography and Videography Club of IISER Mohali actively covered events all year round.