Aurangabad: The three-day Ellora Ajanta International Festival comprises various programmes and presentations of reputed artists from February 25 to 27.
Lavani and Jugalbandi on Feb 25 (6pm to 12 pm).
After the scheduled inauguration Mayur Vaidya and Mrinyamayi Deshpande will present Kathak; Prarthana Behre will perform Bharatnatyam; Bhargavi Chiramule will present Lavani. The event will be followed by classical singing by Padma Bhushan awardee Pandit Rashid Khan and Mahesh Kale. Later on, the jugalbandi between tabla and flute juggling will be there
by Padmashri Vijay Ghate and Pandit Rakesh Chaurasia.
Feb 26 (6 pm to 10 pm)
The guests will witness the performances of Ustad Shujaat Hussain Khan's sitar-singing; tabla by Amit Chaubey and Mukesh Jadhav; Padmashri Shivamani will lay hands on the drums; Ravi Chari's sitar, Sangeet Haldipur's piano, Selva Ganesh's khanjira, Sheldon D'Silva's bass guitar and Aditi Bhagwat will perform Kathak.
Mahadevan is to perform on Feb 27 (6 pm to 10 pm)
The evening programmes include Sangeeta Mujumdar’s Strings N Steps group will perform Kathak; guitar by Neel Ranjan Mukherjee. Later on, the feast of programmes will be performed by Padmashri Shankar Mahadevan.
Curtain-raiser Purvarang (Feb 12 to 23)
To create a festive atmosphere in the city, the organisers have organised various programmes for over a week. The inauguration of the main function will be on Feb 12 at 6.30 pm. ‘Bharud’ programme will be held at Kranti Chowk on Feb 15; the devotional song programme at Paithan Gate on Feb 18; the performance by Jama Qawwal Group at Delhi Gate on Feb 21. All the programmes will be held daily between 8 to 9.30 pm. Meanwhile, a lecture on ‘Rich Aurangabad’ will be held at MTDC lawn in the Railway Station vicinity, on Feb 23.