KATARA VILLAGE: QATAR'S CULTURAL CORE

Every city boasts of a spot that acts as its cultural hub or nerve centre. It is the place where residents and tourists head for diverse cultural experiences. The Katara Cultural Village in Doha is the place to go to for all things cultural in Qatar.

- Varsha Singh

As you get off the golf cart bringing you here, you pass through gigantic arches that could have been the entrance to a medieval Middle Eastern walled city. The imagery of the period and the location persists as you see several narrow alleyways, paved with stones, winding throughout the village. The alleys are lined with houses, with arched windows and tiny oil lamps reflecting the style of the Islamic world of the medieval period.

One of the first sights inside only goes on to reinforce the image further. A small mosque, painted in golden hues, greets visitors and whose glitter ensures that it is indeed the first thing that visitors see. The mosque could very well have been in the capital of a wealthy and powerful ancient Islamic kingdom.

"Welcome to Katara Cultural Village." These words by your guide make you snap out of your reverie and realise that instead of a promenade in a 12th century Arab city, you are in the ultra-modern capital of a wealthy and culturally-oriented Arab country of the 21st century.