Three-day fest showcasing Varanasi’s rich cultural heritage opened

VARANASI: The three-day festival -Kashi Utsav organised by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA) with the support of the Uttar Pradesh Government and Varanasi administration, under the aegis of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ started at the Rudraksh International Cooperation and Convention Centre on Tuesday. Varanasi has been chosen for this festival because of its rich cultural heritage, splendid history and resplendent beauty.
The first session of Kashi Utsav was inaugurated by IGNCA member secretary Dr Schhidanand Joshi, archaeologist Prof Maruti Nandan Tiwari, critic Virendra Mishra and IGNCA director Priyanka Mishra.
The festival commenced with a kathak performance. Noted poet Dr Kumar Vishwas presented a performance on ‘Main Kashi Hun’ and a theatrical presentation on ‘Kamayani: Dance Drama’ based on the classic poetry of Jaishankar Prasad was presented on the inaugural day of the three-day fest. The play has been directed by Vyomesh Shukla of Varanasi. The events of the first day were based on the theme ‘Kashi ke Hastakshar,’ focussing on the literary figures of Varanasi.
A theme has been dedicated to each day of the festival. Theme of the second day will be ‘Kabir, Raidas ki Bani aur Nirgun Kashi’ and the concluding day will have the theme ‘Kavita aur Kahani - Kashi ki Zubani’.
The BJP MP and singer Manoj Tiwari will give a musical presentation on ‘Tulsi ki Kashi’ on the concluding day of the fest. Several devotional performances by artists like Kalapini Komkali, Bhuvanesh Komkali, Padma Shri Bharti Bandhu, and Maithili Thakur will also be presented during the festival.
The three-day festival is dedicated to the legendary personalities of Kashi including eminent literary figures, Bhartendu Harishchandra, Jaishankar Prasad, Sant Raidas, Sant Kabirdas, Goswami Tulsidas and Munshi Premchand. During the three day celebrations various aspects of these literary figures will be highlighted through events like panel discussions, exhibitions, film screenings, music, drama and dance performances by eminent artists.
Other events to be presented include a play based on Rani Laxmi Bai, ‘Khoob Ladi Mardani’ directed by Bharti Sharma from NSD. The play will be presented by artists from the National School of Drama (NSD) on November 18. Several fims of IGNCA on the cultural and literary heritage of Varanasi will also be screened during the festival. The films to be screened include ‘Banaras Ek Sanskritik Prayogshala’ by Virendra Mishra, ‘Meri Nazar mein Kashi’ and ‘Manbhawan Kashi’ directed by Pankaj Parashar, ‘Kashi Pavitra Bhugol’ directed by Deepak Chaturvedi, ‘Made in Banaras’ by Satyaprakash Upadhyay, ‘Kashi Ganga Vishveshvarai’ and ‘Muktidham’ by Radhika Chandrasekhar, ‘Kashi ki Aitihasikta’ and ‘Kashi ki Hastiyaan’ by Arjun Pandey.
An exhibition of books and six literary personalities has also been organised at the festival. Renowned speakers including Dr Sachchidanand Joshi, Prof Maruti Nandan Tiwari, Virendra Mishra, Prof Niranjan Kumar, Anant Vijay, Prof Poonam Kumari Singh, Prof Vishambhar Nath Mishra; Dr Sadanand Shahi, Dr Uday Pratap Singh are participating in the panel discussions on six luminaries of Kashi.