12th Samskriti festival showcases Indian Classical Dance and Dhrupad Music

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The 12th Samskriti Festival, organised by Devmudraa – A Movement School with Dhruvpad Gurukulam Trust, Hyderabad, was held on November 22–23 at Tapadiya Natya Mandir, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, featuring Kuchipudi, Andhra Natyam, Perini Tandavam, and Dhrupad music.

The festival opened with the “Sowbhagya Pratibha” classical dance competitions, with nearly 55 participants from Maharashtra. In the evening, Devmudraa artists presented “Lalita Devi Charitam” under Guru Dr. Rajyalakshmi Seth (Mumbai). Disciples of Dr. Kalakrishna performed Andhra Natyam and Perini Tandavam, and he was honoured with the inaugural Krishna Pratibha 2025 national award.

On the second day, Dr. Kalakrishna conducted a lec-dem on Abhinaya, followed by a Dhrupad recital by Shri Sanjeev and Shri Manish (Bhopal), accompanied by Ganesh Bhutekar, Deepa Shukla, and Sharad Lokhande. The festival concluded with Devmudraa’s thematic Kuchipudi production, “Sri Narayana Varnamala.”

The judges were Dr. Jayant Shevatekar, Mukta Soman, Varsha Pandit, Sunila Gollapudi, Dr. Roshan Ranade, and adv. Meenal Deshmukh. The winners included Advaita Abhilash (Bharatanatyam – Junior 1st), Dnyaneshwari Mohre (Bharatanatyam – Middle 1st), Manjiri Ghodke (Bharatanatyam – Senior 1st), and Sanskruti Kunte (Kathak – 1st). Distinguished guests included deputy commissioner Mrs. Sharmistha Gharge Walawalkar, industrialist Mrs. Mohini Kelkar, Guru Vijay Deshmukh, adv. Ranjana K. Bhope, and Preeti Kundalia.