Sketch it, shoot it, answer it: Kashi Sansad Pratiyogita 2026 opens its entry windows

If there is an artist, a photographer or a hopeless quiz enthusiast in your house, the next few weeks are worth marking on the calendar. Entries are open for the sketching, painting and photography leg of Kashi Sansad Pratiyogita 2026, the city-wide competition series being coordinated through the district administration, with the Chief Development Officer as nodal officer. The art competitions run their first stage online from 3 to 14 August; registration closes on 14 August, and shortlisted participants come to Sigra Stadium for the finals on 19 and 20 August. The knowledge competition — a quiz built around Kashi's history, culture and civic life — takes registrations until 24 August and then runs from 25 August to 3 September. The rest of the series stretches across the year, so there is time to pick your event. A cultural festival of dance, drama, singing and instrumental music is scheduled for 14 to 24 September; the sports leg covers 32 disciplines across five age groups from 5 to 24 October; a children's poets' conference follows in the first half of November; and a job fair is set for 4 and 5 December, with registration open until 3 December. A Sanskrit competition — shastrarth, oration, shlokas and Gita-Ramayana rounds — is part of the line-up too. For school and college students especially, these are low-barrier ways to get on a stage in your own city. Dates here follow the district coordination briefing; do confirm on the official registration portals before you plan around them.

Compiled by HelloBanaras from public sources: Janwarta · Varanasi District (NIC)