Mysuru: About 800 delegates from various districts participated in the ‘Samskrita Kaveri’ Southern Conference, which began with the ‘Jnanakumbha’ exhibition and concluded recently at Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Ashram in Mysuru.

The Vastu-Vijyana-Pustaka Pradshini in this Conference attracted the attention of the people. The ‘Samskrita Lahari’ cultural event held after the evening procession also attracted the attention of the delegates and the public.

In the ‘Samskrita Lahari’ cultural event that started with invocatory singing, the students of ‘Nitin’s Nadamruta Sangita Shaale’ rendered cultural songs under the guidance of Nithin Rajaram Shastri.

The special feature of this cultural event was Kashmiri poet Kshemendra’s Sanskrit kavya ‘Darpadalanam’ performed as a dance-drama. This special performance was by Mysuru’s Champaka Academy Ensemble guided by Founder Dr. Nagalakshmi Nagarajan. In her creative direction, this was performed at the Samskrita Kaveri Sammelan.

The seven causes of arrogance and pride are mentioned in Kshemendra’s ‘Darpadalanam’ as Kula, Dhana, Vidya, Roopa, Shaurya, Daana and Tapas. These seven causes are explained as a story in each chapter.

In the 2nd chapter, the story of pride due to wealth, dhanvichara was well-enacted and danced by Champaka Academy students Shreya Vijay, R.J. Pooja, G.G. Varshita, S.S. Manjusha, S. Saugandhika, N. Shreshta and S.S. Nishita. Vidwan Gunashankar gave a good performance in the role of the miser Nanda. Conceptualisation and choreography by Dr. Nagalakshmi Nagarajan, the music composition and singing by Vidushi Chetna Chitradurga, violin is by Smitha Srikiran, mridanga is by Vidwan Nandan Kashyap. The performance of the 15 centuries old wise literary composition, which is even now socially relevant, was appreciated by all.

The solo drama performance of Avani was very attractive and applauded by the audience.

The other attraction of the evening was the students of Bharati Yogadhama Gurukula performing the play ‘Balarama.’ This play, performed by young children, was a source of entertainment and joy for all those who were present.