By Harshini Purushotham

Our very own Mysuru city witnessed more than a week-long cultural fete organised by Kala Sandesha Prathishtana in collaboration with ten other organisations from Jan.22 to 31. The banner of Kalabhivardhana ably converged the profuse strings of Indian art.

KSGH Music and Performing Arts University Vice-Chancellor Dr. Sarvamangala Shankar inaugurated the event on Jan.22. Musicologist Dr. R. Sathyanarayana (RS) and art patron K.V. Murthy were the chief guests.

Padma Bhushan Dr. T.V. Gopalakrishnan (TVG) was honoured with the title, ‘Sangeeta Kalottunga’ in the presence of illustrious music scholars of the city, Dr. R.S. Nandakumar, Vid. H.K. Narasimhamurthy, Dr. Sukanya Prabhakar, Vid. K.P. Upadhyaya, Vidu. Rohini Subbaratnam, Vid.  G.S. Ramanujam, Vid. A.P. Srinivas, Vid. R.K. Padmanabha and Vid. Rajalakshmi Sridhar, who also formed the Sangeeta Kalottunga -2018 Award Committee.

Dr. TVG humbly accepted the award and exclaimed how overwhelmed and touched he was, to have received it in Mysuru city with legends like, Dr. RS alongside.

The evening had more in store for the art lovers. TVG’s concert beamed his prowess as he seamlessly travelled sine-curves through the notes of Karnatak Music. Vid. Ambur Padmanabhan on mridanga, Vid. A.P. Srinivas on violin and Vid. G.S. Ramanujam on ghata supported the vocal with great fervour.

After a perfect start to the mega series, the second evening was dedicated to promote India and Indianism by Bharathadhvaya Foundation led by Anusha Varun. Dr. Pavagada Prakash Rao orated on the topic, ‘Indian Culture at Crossroads,’ an apt subject that needed some light to be thrown upon as this country is racing up the lane of westernisation. Coming to think of owning our culture as Indians, Kala Sandesha Prathishtana, as an organisation, is making repeated efforts in restoring the thinning roots of India. Their adoption of a simple phrase Namo Bharathi as the opening and closing line and, Vande Mataram as the invocation song is appreciable.

Tathvapada by Vid. Kiragasuru Rajappa and team and, Puppet Show by Vid. Ramachandru and team was organised on the third day by Hari Krishnan as part of his venture into promoting the art forms of ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’ identified by Sangeet Natak Akademy through Abhyudaya Samskruthika Vihara.

Janapada Kala Sinchana brought up a stage for Dollu Kunita by Sri Mylaralingeshwara Dollukunitha Kalathanda and Kamsale by Malayamadeshwara Beesu Kamsale Nruthyatanda.

Poorvika Chandanam stood instrumental in convening the folk culture for the fourth day. Shilpa Kantharaj of Chirantana Rangapeetha took charge of the fifth day wherein Arivu Ranga team presented ‘Bhagavadh Ajjukiyam’ in Indian theatre after a prologue on ‘Journey of Theatre Forms’ by Vid. Netra Raghunandan.

Karavali Kalanikethana led by Pooja Dev formulated a platform for Yakshagana Thalamaddale by Dr. Kabbinale Vasantha Bharadwaj and Ekavyakthi Yakshagana, Dakshayini by Vid. Manjunath N. Puttur that glistened the colours of coastal art on the sixth day. Seventh evening witnessed a violin duet by Prithvi Bhaskar and C.V. Shruthi and Karnatak vocal music by Vid. Manasa Nayana organised by Harshini Purushotham of Swarashraya Gana Sabha. On this day, many art scholars from across the city joined hands in celebrating the announcement of Padma Shri by the Government of India to Mahamahopadhyaya Dr. R. Satyanarayana who is revered for his innumerable and enshrined contributions to the field of Indian art.

Vidu. Y. Akshatha (Bharatanatyam), Vidu. K.P. Shruthi (Mohiniyattam) and Vidu. Archana Bhat (Bharatanatyam) added their essence to the concoction of Indian Dance summed up by Dhanalaskhmi, Sandhya Kishan and Dr. Poornima of Ekatha Nruthyalaya on the eighth day.

Gamaka Roopaka on Kanakadasa’s Mohana Tharangini was presented by Vid. K. Ramachandra and Dr. Jyothi Shankar on the ninth evening organised by Y. Akshatha of Sankeerthana Sabha.

The concluding day of Kalabhivardhana bestowed the title ‘Natya Kalottunga-2018’ on Dr. Kanak Rele, a world renowned Classical dance exponent, in the presence of Swami Athmajnanandaji (President of Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Mysuru).

Natya Kalottunga-2018 Award Committee comprised distinguished dance scholars and art patrons of the city such as, Dr. Vasundhara Doraswamy, Dr. Tulasi Ramachandra, Dr. Sheela Sridhar, Vid. Ramamurthy Rao, Dr. Kripa Phadke, Dr. Radhika Nandakumar, Vid. R. Kannan, T.R. Harish and Savitha Ramesh.

After the award ceremony, Dr. Rele and her disciple Saji Menon enthralled and steered the audience to a whole new world of rasas with their subtle yet graceful movements that brought out the very extract of Mohiniyattam, with Vid. M.S. Girisan’s vocal, Vid. C. Gopala Krishnan’s Nattuvanga, Vid. Dakshinamurthy Pillai’s mridanga, Vid. Nanda Kumar’s Edakka and Vid. Narayana’s violin.

Prathisthana President  K. Sandesh Bhargav and his commendable collaboration bore fruits as an art season in Mysuru. His foresights and endeavour brought nearly 100 artistes together in a span of 10 days. In spite of being a corporate professional (Asst. Vice-President, Genpact), Sandesh invests a lot of his time, energy and money to promote and propagate Indian art. Also, Radhika Bhargav carefully crafts the minutes for Sandesh as a Trustee of the organisation and a beloved wife. Indeed, his tenacity and unwavering perseverance transformed a mediocre week to a season of Indian Arts Veneration.