BHOPAL (Madhya Pradesh): The Ravindra Convention Centre, inaugurated on Wednesday, by the Governor Mangubhai Patel and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, boasts of the biggest auditorium in the state with a capacity to seat 1,500 persons.
The Convention Centre, spread over 11,821 sq metres, has state-of-the-art facilities for holding conferences, conventions, seminars, meetings, lectures and cultural performances, including mini auditorium, banquet hall, rehearsal rooms, audio and video recording studios, food court, art gallery, library etc.
The Centre has come up on the 5.2 hectare premises of the old Ravindra Bhavan, built in 1962. The front and the back fa'ade of the Centre is similar to the 60-year-old-Ravindra Bhavan.
The foundation stone for the Centre was laid on November 1, 2015. The project was implemented jointly by the Union ministry of culture, and directorate of Culture, MP under Tagore Cultural Complex scheme.
Originally, the Centre, built by the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) of the state PWD and designed by EPCO, was to cost Rs 33 crore and was scheduled to be completed by November 2018. The project, however, experienced both time and cost overruns due to the Corona pandemic and technical glitches. The cost went up to Rs 48 crore and the completion was delayed by more than two years.
The main auditorium of the Centre is on the ground floor. It has a three dimensional stage including two separate dressing rooms for men and women, two VIP rooms and light and sound rooms. It has three separate entrances ñ for VIPs, for others and for performers.
The different sections of the Centre have been named after nine Hindustani classical ragas.
The main auditorium is called Hansdhawni. It is fully air-conditioned. There is a mini auditorium called Gauranjani, with a capacity of 212. It is meant for staging plays and holding seminars, lectures, conferences etc. The mini auditorium has a green room and light and sound equipment.
The Kaushiki Banquet Hall can accommodate 350 persons and is meant for conferences, meetings and seminars. It has a projector screen. The Jaijaiwanti† Board Room can be used for small meetings of up to 80 persons. It has video-conferencing facilities. For even smaller gatherings, the Centre has Malkauns Meeting Hall with a capacity to seat 35 persons.
The Lalit Art Gallery on the ground floor has two halls and a gallery, where paintings, sculptures etc can be exhibited. The Malhar Audio and Shivranjani Video Recording Studios are equipped with facilities for editing and live streaming of programmes. Two rehearsal rooms, with a capacity of 40 persons each also form part of the Centre.
It also has Saraswati Library Room and printing / publishing room besides Kedara-Nat Audio-Video Library Room. Marble sculptures by well-known artists have been placed in the open area of the Centre.
The various facilities at the Centre will be available on hire to commercial, non-commercial and government organisations or persons at rates which will be fixed soon. -Vandana Jain, Manager, Ravindra Convention Centre
