Culture Minister Sushri Thakur will inaugurate Khajuraho dance festival

Bhopal : The Minister of Culture, Tourism and Spirituality, Sushri Usha Thakur will inaugurate the globally acclaimed ‘Khajuraho Dance Festival’ at the World Heritage ‘Khajuraho’. The 47th Khajuraho Dance Festival is being held from February 20 to 26 in Khajuraho based on the traditions of the Indian classical dance tradition. Significantly, this ceremony will be held once again in the temple complex of the Western Temple Group after a gap of 44 years. This will give the audience a chance to watch the performance of the dancers amid the aura of the temple.

Kathak, Mohiniyattam, Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi and other dances will be presented

The Khajuraho dance ceremony will start at 7 pm daily. Admission to this will be free. The event will begin with Bharatanatyam by Geeta Chandran and her troupe and Kathak by Deepak Maharaj. On February 21 on the second day, Aishwarya Warrier will present Mohiniyattam, Meerananda Barathakur, Utpala Hukai, Aligunjan Kalita Mudiyar and Chandrani Kalita Ojha will give a presentation of Sathiya-Kathak duet and Aruna Mohanty and fellow artists will present Odissi group dance. On the third day of the ceremony on February 22, Kathak duet will be performed by Sourav-Gaurav Mishra, Marg Natya by Pial Bhattacharya and troupe and Kathak-Bharatnatyam duet will be presented by Sulagna Banerjee and Rajdeep Banerjee. The highlight of the fourth day of the event on February 23 will be an Odissi duet by Vinod Kevin Bachchan and Vrinda Chaddha, a Satria group by Anita Sharma and troupe and a Kathak dance by Priya Shrivastava. The fifth day of the festival on February 24 will feature Odissi by Poornashree Raut, Kuchipudi by Avijit Das and Mohiniyattam group dance by Bharti Shivaji and fellow artists. On the sixth day on February 25, Maitreyi Pahari and fellow artists will perform a Kathak group, Satyanarayan Raju will present Bharatnatyam, while Ayana Mukherjee and Prashant Kalia will present Kuchipudi-Chhau duet dance. On the last day of the function on February 26, artists of Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy will perform Manipuri Group, Arya Nande will present Odissi and Poornima Ashok and fellow artists will give a presentation of Bharatnatyam group dance.

Confluence of tourism and adventure activities

Principal Secretary Culture and Tourism Shri Sheo Shekhar Shukla informed that art lovers visiting World Heritage Khajuraho will be able to take part in tourism and adventure activities as per their interest. During the seven-day event, various activities will be organised for tourists and they will visit Bare Value in Panna, Arua Campsite, Aryan Camp (Madla) and Night Camping at Veer Camping Farm in Khajuraho, e-bike tour from west group temples to eastern group temples, village tour of Old Khajuraho and Langua and Water sports activities in Kutni Dam.

For more information about the Khajuraho Dance Festival, visit ww.khajurahodancefestival.com.