Andretta Artist Village Palampur

A must visit in Himachal Pradesh; Andretta Artist Village near Palampur is place of interest for art lovers. Owing its fame to Norah Richards, an Irish writer and Dramatist, this Artist Village is a heritage like no other. The modern Andretta Artist Village is immensely famous for its Norah's Centre for Arts, Andretta Pottery and Craft Society (they sell earthenware to Fab India in Delhi) Norah's Mud House and Sir Sobha Singh Art Gallery. Keeping its legacy of art & craft and performing arts, Andretta Artist Village has affixed its position in India as a connoisseur of arts. The Andretta Pottery & Craft Society is owned by Tourism Advice Centre (TAC).

History: It was in mid-1930s that Norah Richards moved from Lahore to Andretta after her husband's death. She began teaching drama to student of Punjabi students and later she was made a fellow of Punjabi University Patiala. Norah invited B.C.Sanyal (doyen of Indian modern art) and Professor Jaidayal (Pupil of Norah's husband) to work from Andretta. Later Sir Sobha Singh, Sardar Gurucharan Singh and Prithviraj Kapoor also chose Andretta as their home and started to work from here. Sardar Gurucharan Singh introduced studio art pottery in India and established a small pottery for summer use in Andretta. During the time of Norah Richards, several discussions about art, drama and the philosophy of living in a rural environment took place in Andretta in which many veterans from distinct fields of art participated.