Chennai’s Kalakshetra hosting Kashmir exhibition

CHENNAI: If you’ve always dreamt of visiting Kashmir but never got around to doing it, a new festival in Namma Chennai, organised by the Union ministry of culture and Kalakshetra, will give you a peek into this Himalayan region.
The festival -- Vitasta (an ancient name for the Jhelum river) -- will be a display of Kashmiri food, art, crafts, music and culture, organised under the ministry of culture’s Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav initiative and being hosted at Kalakshetra Foundation from January 27 to 30.On January 28 and 29, evening performances by Abhay Rustom Sopori and Troupe on the Santoor; and Sufi and Kashmiri folk music by Aabha Hanjura and troupe will take place at Dakshina Chitra.
“After piloting the festival in Chennai, the ministry plans to take it to Maharashtra, Sikkim and Kashmir. Through this event, we are drawing cultural parallels between Tamil Nadu and Kashmir. As a tribute to the ancient Sharadha Devi Peetham in Kashmir, Kalakshetra will present a Bharatanatyam performance on Sharadha Stotram and Vitasta Sthuthi,” said Kalakshetra director Revathi Ramachandran.
“We also have a comparative presentation of the two state’s folk theatre forms – Bhand Pather and Theukoothu by VR Devik, and a Villupattu performance by Bharathi Thirumagan on the Vithastha river.”
The festival will bring together 160 craftsmen from Kashmir and have wood carving, shawl weaving and paper mache workshops. There will be a seminar series starting with ‘Literary & Cultural Heritage of Kashmir’ on January 28 in association with the Sahitya Akademi.
Schedule
January 27, 5.00 pm
Video presentation on ‘Vitasta’ and ‘Buddhism in Kashmir’ – Siddharth Kak
Dance presentation by Kalakshetra Foundation – Sharadha Stotram and Vitasta Sthuthi •
Inauguration – Official Function
Kashmir Folk Music Symphony •
Verses from Opera on Vitasta by Kalakshetra Foundation Music Students •
Folk Dance Medley
January 28, 5.00 pm
Sufi music and Kashmiri folk music by Aabha Hanjura and Troupe
Official Function
Theatre Presentation on Kashmir and Vitasta by National School of Drama, Repertory
Presentation on Bhand Pather and Therukoothu by V.R. Devika
January 29, 5.30 pm
Santoor by Abhay Rustom Sopori and Troupe
Villupaattu by Bharati Thirumagan
Bhand Pather
January 30, 5.30 pm
Folk Music Symphony
Folk Dance Medley
‘Bharati Kanda Bharatam’ presentation by Kalakshetra Foundation
Valedictory – Official Function
Dedication of lamps on the banks of Padma Pushkarini by the Guests of Honour and Special Invitees
Seminar and Talk Series
January 28
11.00am – 1.00pm: ‘Religious and Philosophical Literature of Kashmir’ - Speakers: Advaitvadani Kaul (Buddhism), Aejaz Mohammed Sheikh (Islam), M.A. Alwar (Abhinav Gupta), Satish Vimal (Kashmir Saivism)
2.00pm – 3.00pm: ‘Kashmiri Culture Through Ages’ - Speakers: Gauri Shankar Raina, Gh Rasool Jan
January 29
10.20 am – 11.00 am : ‘Temples of Kashmir and Hindu Past of Kashmir’ by Giridhar Mamidi
11.05 am – 11.35 am : ‘Kashmir & Buddhism’ by C.K. Gariyali
11.40 am – 12.20 pm: ‘Aagamic assumptions of Abhinavagupta’s poetics & aesthetics’ by Prof. Rajneesh Misra
2.00 pm – 2.40 pm : ‘Lalleswari – the daughter of Vitasta’ by Virendra Qazi
2.45 pm – 3.20 pm : ‘Kalhana’s Rajatharangini’ by P.R. Kannan
January 30
9.30am – 10.10 am: ‘The Culture of Kashmir’ by Prof. Beena Budki
10.15am – 10.55am: ‘Adi Shankaracharya from Kalady to Kashmir’ by J. Jeganaathan
11.00 am – 11.40 am: ‘Why we should safeguard the Kashmir Valley?’ by TKV Rajan
11.45 am – 12.25 pm : ‘Bhārata and her Kāśmīra’ by Megh Kalyanasundaram
2.00 pm – 2.30 pm : ‘Kashmir through the eyes of Dr. R. Nagaswamy’ by Kala Nagaswamy
2.35 pm – 3.00 pm : Summing up of Sessions by Radha Bhaskar and Rajshree Vasudevan