Dehradun- 20 April 2022- On the last day of Virasat Saadhna, a platform for young artists to present their talent, 12 schools and 17 students came to showcase their art. The show’s highlight was a xylophone presentation by Akshat Joshi from St. Kabeer Academy. There were seven dances, one instrumental and six vocal performances. IT Children’s Academy-NRITYA KINKINNI, Jhankar Dance School, Olympus High, The OASIS, Swami Veena Maharaj Music & Dance Academy, Glee Music Academy, Tulas International School, Delhi Public School, St. Jude’s School, Hill Foundation School, St. Kabeer Academy and Graphic Era participated in the event. The dance forms included Bharatnatyam and Kathak, while vocal performances of Raga Bageshri and Ram Ka Gun Gaan left the audience in awe.
The evening started with Kabir Gayan by Kaluram Bamaniya, a folk singer from the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh. He is a singer of Sufi and bhakti tradition and performs Kabir bhajans in his unique way. The folk music traditions of India are sustained by the group or mandalis that sing words of the mystic poets, especially Kabir, Meera, Surdas, Gorakhnath and others. Kabeer is an entire philosophy. He believed that all gods are within, and goodness towards others is next to Godliness. Born into the Ninth Generation of the Kalka Bindadin Lineage, Shinjini Kulkarni is the granddaughter of the Kathak Maestro Pandit Birju Maharaj. At the age of five, she began her training in Kathak dance from her grandfather. She started performing at the age of eight and has been exploring her passion for dance.
She has performed at prestigious festivals such as the Khajuraho dance festival, Taj Mahotsava, Kalidas Festival, Kathak Mahotsava, etc. She has given numerous solo performances and group shows in India and abroad, such as in New York, San Francisco, Houston, Minneapolis, Bangkok, Tehran, and Chabahar. She is also a member of the newly formed pure classical–based percussion band LayaCurry and has been a part of her grandfather’s choreographies – Nritya Keli, Holi Utsav, Krishnayan, and Loha, to name a few. Today she performed a tribute to Guru Birju maharaj by her students and her first performance is 13 matra jait tal And Dadra for abhinaya. Vishal Mishra on sitar, Zaki khan in vocal, Aryav Anand on Padhant and Shubh Maharaj on table were performed. Amir Ali Khan started his sarod recital with raga Malkauns, Alap Jo Ujala, keeping up with the long followed tradition and ended it with jhala. He hails from a celebrated family of musicians from Bhopal and is a seventh-generation musician in his family. His father, Nafiz Ahmad Khan, is a tabla player who often accompanies his son. He began to play the Sarod from his grandfather Ustad Abdul Latif Khan, a renowned sarangi player.
Amir Learned to play the Sarod under the able guidance of his elder brother Ustad Rehmat Ali Khan of Bangash Gharana. His renditions have a gaayaki in them as Amir Ji loves to sing and is an accomplished singer. 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 essential 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 recognised once again.
Kabir Gayan a folk,sufi and bhakti singer performs Kabir bhajans in his unique way
