Mysuru: Vasundhara Performing Arts Centre, Mysuru, will present Vasundharotsava-2024, a 10-day event commemorating the 40th edition of Annual National Festival of Classical Dance & Music, celebration of Dr. Vasundhara Doraswamy’s 75th birthday and 50 years of her yeoman service to the field of Bharatanatyam, from Nov. 15 to 24 across three venues in city.

The celebrations will be inaugurated by Anupama B. Pandit, Administrator, GSSSIETW, Mysuru, tomorrow (Nov. 15) at 5.30 pm at Vasundhara Bhavan  situated at Kalandhika Academy of   Arts in Saraswathipuram.

Dr. M. Jagannath Shenoy, Managing Trustee, Mangalore Ganesh Beedi Works, Mysuru, will be the chief guest. K.C. Shivappa, Author & Poet, will be the guest of honour. Shubha Dhananjay, Chairperson, Karnataka Sangeeta Nritya Academy, will preside.

A book on Dr. Vasundhara Doraswamy — ‘Orbit of  Vasundhara – Realm of Dance’s Truth’ — written by Shubhada Subramanyam from Germany, will be released by K.C. Shivappa.

This year’s festival will be dedicated to ‘Bharatanatyam’ only, with participants from across the globe along with the artistes/dance teachers from Mysuru.

These dance performances will be mainly held at Vasundhara Bhavan of Kalandhika Academy of Arts from Nov. 15 to 18, Nov. 20 and Nov. 22 with performances starting at 6 pm on all the days.

Dance productions ‘Sanmarga’ on Nov. 19 and ‘Sri Krishna Madhuryam’ on Nov. 21 will be presented at Ganabharathi’s Ramagovinda Kalavedike in Kuvempunagar by senior disciples of Dr. Vasundhara Doraswamy. On both the days events will start  at 5.30 pm.

On Nov. 23, a Seminar and Panel Discussion will be held from 9.30 am at Vasundhara Bhavan (Kalandika Academy). Veteran Veena maestro Dr. R. Vishweshwaran will be felicitated on this occasion. Dr. Vasundhara Doraswamy will also present a solo performance.

This event will be inaugurated by Prof. Nagesh V. Bettakote, Vice-Chancellor of Music  University. Ashish Mohan Khokar, renowned art historian and critic, will be the guest of honour.

Prof. K. Ramamurthy Rao, Surya Prasad, Nagamani Srinath, Veena Murthy Vijay, Poornima Gururaj, Prof. Sheela Sridhar and Dr. Kripa Phadke will be taking part in the Seminar and Panel Discussion.

On Nov. 24, Mysuru Kala Divas will be held at Nada Mantapa in Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Ashram on Nanjangud Road. This concluding programme of the Fest will witness more than 550 dancers coming together on stage in cultural city.

It will be inaugurated at 9.30 am in the presence of Suttur Seer Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji, Avadhoota Datta Peetham Seer Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji and Junior Pontiff Sri Datta Vijayananda Teertha Swamiji.

Mysuru-Kodagu MP Yaduveer Wadiyar will be the guest of honour.

Dr. Sandhya Purecha, Chairperson, Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi, will deliver the keynote address and preside over the event. Dr. Mohan Alva, Founder of Alva Institutes, Moodabidri and Dr. Jagannath Shenoy will be the chief guests.

The artistes performing during the Festival include Bhartanatyam Gurus and their talented disciples like:

Vid. M.L. Sudhanva, Vidu. M.L. Sumedhini (disciples of Prof. Sheela Sridhar), Vidu. Mithra Naveen and her disciples, Vidu. Nagashree & disciples, Vidu. Nandini Ajjampur, Dr. Chetana Radhakrishna & disciples, Vidu. K.M. Samiksha & Vidu. Pooja Sugam (disciples of Guru Vijaykumar and Kripa Phadke), Vidu. C.N. Anitha & her disciples, Vidu. Dr. Nitya Sri & Chinmai Bharadwaj (disciples of Vidu. Nandini Eswer & Prof. Dr. Rohitha Eswer), Vid. Srikant Kanavalli (disciple of Vid. K. Ramamurthy Rao), Vid. Prof. Dr. K. Kumar & his disciples, Vidu. Srilakshmi Kumar & her disciples.

Vidu. Dr. Anjana Bhushan (disciple of Padmini Ravi), disciples of Dr. Vasundhara Doraswamy — Vidu. Sowmya Govind Naidu (Qatar), Vid. Badari Divya Bhushan, Varshini (Melbourne), Vidu. Shubhada Subramanyam (Germany), Vidu. Roopsi Bhajanehatti (London),  Dr. Nagalakshmi Nagarajan and Vidu. Sonal Jhaveri (USA).