Dehradun- 19 April 2022: The Virasat Sadhna showcased ten schools and 18 performances on last Tuesday. The programme aims to connect the youth to their roots and keep the Indian classical culture alive. The students performed nine dances that included Bharatnatyam, Kathak and Odissi; six vocals – Raga Yaman, Raga Bhopali, Raag Prayag, and three instrumentals – sitar, harmonium, violin, tabla. Convent of Jesus and Mary, Madhukar Kala Munch, Shri Ram Centennial, Kendriya Vidyalaya upper camp, Kendriya Vidyalaya ONGC, St. Thomas College, Kendriya Vidyalaya ITBP, Kendriya Vidyalaya IIP, The Asian School, Jaswant Modern School, The Tons Bridge School participated in the event. Ms Kalpana Sharma handed over the certificates to the participants. The Navodaya Kala Vikas Samiti graced the evening with enthralling Uttarakhand Folk Performances.
The Art and Culture Department of the government of Uttarakhand appointed them. President Bhupinder Prasad Bhatt composed the act and performed with other artists. The Singers were – Indu Bhatt Mamgai, Manju Sundriyal, Pradeep Aswal, Dancers – Meenakshi Rawat, Rosy, Jyoti, Mukesh Satendra Bhatt, Abhay, Viraj, and Musicians – Gautam Sidli, Virendra, Mantri. Their first presentation was the Trijuki Narayan Gaddh Vandana followed by Thadya Chaufla and Posu Paki Jhuma, a Jaunpuri folk dance. Later, Bhupinder and co-artists performed songs like Hilma Chandi ku Batana and Mai ghas kate lu. Shruti Adhikari from Bhopal has formed a musical group named ‘Panchnaad’, consisting of five female Indian Classical Music Instrumentalists, the only female group of its own performing Indian Classical Music concerts across India. Panchnaad denotes panch tatva, and it has only traditional acoustic instruments. Panch Naad is a marvellous blend of artists like Paromita Mukherjee from Delhi, Smita Vajpayee from Indore, Sangeeta Agnihotri from Indore and Rachna Sharma from Indore.
They started their act with Raag Kotwani, a raag usually associated with Karnatic music, but since it’s a contemporary raag they have included aalaaps in it. Next, they presented two compositions in teen taal. In the program, Smita Vajpai on Sitar, Sangeeta Agnihotri on Tabal and Mahima Upadhyay on Pakhvaj gave their performances. REACH was established in 1995 in Dehradun and has continued to organise the Virasat Festival ever since. Their aim is simply to preserve the value and essence of Indian art, culture and heritage and to bring these cultural values to the masses. Virasat has been instrumental in reviving many rural arts which were once on the verge of extinction due to a lack of an audience. The festival has played an important role in preserving and reviving our village’s traditions, music, dance, crafts, painting, sculpture, theatre, storytelling, traditional cuisine, etc. and bringing them into practice in these modern times, because of which our classical and contemporary arts have started being recognized once again.
