Manali (HP), May 17: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today announced Rs one crore grant for setting up an international school of art at Naggar village of this township as the ardent lover of nature kept tryst with art by visiting the famous Roerich Art Gallery here during his summer retreat. Having a typical outing on a vacation, Vajpayee had some light moments as he played with a three-year-old child of the caretaker of the art gallery and shared jokes with its old woman manager Ursulla of Russia amid a mild drizzle.

He told reporters after visiting the gallery that the beautiful Himachal Pradesh lacked an institution of art where youngsters could learn painting, music and drama. "So I have decided to give Rs one crore for setting up of a school of art here (at Roerich estate in Naggar) from the government fund," the Prime Minister said adding it would be of international standard.

Showering praises on Nicholai Constaninavich Roerich, a world famous artist from Russia who made Manali his home for two decades from 1928, Vajpayee said "he was the world's greatest artist. He was a confluence of art, culture and tradition." Bureau Report