Rajasthan’s puppets are ready for a close-up, and AI filmmaking is getting a turn behind the camera. The Rajasthan AVGC-XR Summit 2026 brought the old and new worlds of creativity together in Jaipur, with more than 5,000 creators, students, studio founders, educators and policymakers attending the second edition on 28 October.
Held at the Rajasthan International Centre (RIC) on International Animation Day (IAD) on 28 October, the summit was organised by the Rising AVGC-XR & Media Association (Rama Rajasthan), in partnership with the state’s Department of Information Technology & Communication (DoIT&C). The theme was weaving the orange economy.
The biggest moment came when IICT Mumbai founding director and former chairman and chief mentor of the Ficci AVGC-XR forum Ashish Kulkarni, received Rama’s first lifetime achievement award. The honour recognised his contribution to India’s animation and creative economy over more than 35 years. Kulkarni also moderated the Create in India panel, bringing together representatives of industry bodies to discuss a shared growth roadmap for the sector.
Kulkarni shared, “Rajasthan has all the potential to emerge as the creative capital of the world. With strong collaboration between government, educational institutions and industry, and nearly US$1 billion in government-backed commitments to AVGC-XR, India is poised to strengthen its soft power and take Create in India to the world.”
Puppets finds a new stage among the summit’s three intellectual property launches, as Kathputli: Toys & Tales of India gave Rajasthan’s traditional puppetry a digital makeover. Jaipur-based entrepreneurs Tatwarth Kala and Divyansh Kala unveiled its first characters, Banna Sa and Banni Sa, bringing a centuries-old art form into animation and collectibles.
The other launches were the Shift Festival, a multi-day creative, art, and cultural festival in India, introduced by Ankush Nagpal, and Cut.Stage, an AI-powered filmmaking platform from Stage OTT’s Parveen Singhal.
Rajasthani heritage also stepped off the screen and onto the exhibition floor, where a giant designer kathputli made its way through the venue as students brought animated characters to life through cosplay.
The programme had plenty for storytellers and animation enthusiasts. Vaibhav Kumaresh discussed the nearly two-decade journey of self-producing Return of the Jungle, while Raj Comics founder Sanjay Gupta and Alpha Comics’ Vasu Gupta explored the future of comics beyond the printed page.
Bestselling author Divya Prakash Dubey led a storytelling masterclass. Rama also honoured Dr Lalit K. Panwar with the Patron Award, Dr Jitendra Sharma with the Mentor Award and Aman Gupta as Young Achiever. Winners of six challenges rooted in Indian culture shared Rs one lakh in prize money.
The summit builds on Rajasthan’s AVGC-XR Policy 2024, which aims to develop the state’s animation, visual effects, gaming, comics and extended reality ecosystem. Its Atal Innovation Studio and Accelerator (Aisa) follows a hub-and-spoke model, with Jaipur as the hub and centres in Udaipur, Bikaner and Bharatpur.
Rama co-founder and national convener Nitin Jain said the aim was to make Rajasthan a place where heritage and new creative businesses could grow together.
The next edition is scheduled for 16 and 17 October 2027 at the Birla Auditorium Complex, a premier, multi-acre convention, cultural, and scientific hub, in Jaipur. For Rajasthan, the message is clear: its cultural riches need not stay in the past. They can find fresh life on screens, in games and across the global creative economy.
