Patel Cultural Foundation(Mumbai) with the support from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India has organised the 11th Girnar festival of classical music and dance, for five days ,commencing on 10 th January and concluding on 14th January 2025 at the Shree Bhutnath Temple Satsang Hall, near Bahuddin College in Junagadh (Gujarat). The festival is expected to be inaugurated by Mahantshree Mahesh Giri Bapu and MLA Sanjay Goradia. This is annual national festival of classical music and dance attracting the attention of classical singers, musicians and classical dancers from various parts of the country.
The festival commences with Dhrupad vocal music by Dhani Gundecha, followed by Sundari Vadan, a rare small sized flute with fine intensity, that will be played by talented musicians from Sholapur, namely Gurunath,Gorakhnath and Mayuresh Jadhav, followed with the enchanting Bharatanatyam recital by Sanika Shinde, disciple of Dr Sandhya Purecha and Odissi by Ann Afreen from New Delhi. The first day would also feature the vibrant Kathak recital by Ananya Govitrikar from Thane, exciting Bharata Natyam and Kuchipudi duet by Pooja Hirwade and Rishikesh Pohankar from Nagpur. The first day programme would conclude with Dhrupad vocal recital by Dhani Gundecha from Bhopal.
The second day of the festival, Saturday commences with the elegant Odissi recital by Pracheeti Dange from Pune, followed with Bharatanatyam duet by Guru Santanu Chakraborty and his charming disciple Parineet Kaur from New Delhi. Guru Jaimin Kanan and his disciples from Surat would entertain the audience with their Bharatanatyam performance. Sanchita Shenoy is a brilliant danseuse and the disciples of the dynamic dancers and mentors from Bangalore, Guru Nirupama and Guru Rajendra. Sanchita is the only dancer to perform the Bharata Nrityam and am sure she will create a great impression. The evening musical extravaganza concludes with the magic of percussion music, Tabla by Dr Kushbu from Badaun (UP) with Pakhawaj jugalbandi by Gargi Shejwal from Mumbai.
The third day Sunday session commences with music recital by talented musicians from Mangal Murti Special School of Mangal Murti Charitable Trust In Junagadh, headed by Chimanbhai Patel. Mangal Murti has been kind enough to provide hospitality facility for all the participating artists.
Internationally acclaimed Kathak dancers from Bangalore, Hari and Chethana, will enthral the audience with their powerful performance. Another attraction would be the graceful Mohiniattam performance by Sreeja Krishnan from Chennai, followed with the rhythmic Kathak duet by Sushmita Bannerjee and Sangita Sarkar from Kolkata. Besides the interesting Bharata Natyam duet by Avijit Kundu and Soumya Sharma from Bangalore, the last performer of the Sunday session will be the enchanting flute recital by Gaurang Ambulkar from Nashik.
The second last day commences with the graceful Odissi recital by Sarita Panda group, followed with with Sattriya dance from Assam by Dilip Bhuyan group from Jorhat(Assam). Accomplished Kathak exponent from Goa, Rekha Madkaikar would enthral the audience with her disciples. The highlight performance of the day will be the jugalbandi with Kuchipudi and Perini Natyam by Varun Sharma and Perini Brothers from Hyderabad. Perini Natyam is an ancient vibrant and rhythmic dance of Andhra Pradesh dedicated to Lord Shiva, discovered by the veteran mentor Dr Nataraj Ramakrishna
The evening concludes with vocal Hindustani music by Mitsu Bhat from Ahmedabad and Jaltarang recital by Ashish Shah from Surat.
The grand finale day features some dynamic performers like the duet by Sujata Ramanathan in Bharata Natyam and Kathak by Pallavi Raisurana, thrilling Odissi by Kala Vikas Kendra from Cuttack and rhythmic Kathak by Guru Sunila Potdar and disciples from Dombivali. Guru Madhumita Raut, daughter of Padmashri Guru Mayadhar Raut will enchant the audience with their group Odissi performance. Pakhawaj duet will be rendered by Vikash Kokatare and Jaganath Kadam. The final performers of the evening will be Dhrupad recital by Dhrupad Kendra,Kanpur, featuring Mrudal Awasthi, Adarsh Gupta, Kriti Gupta and Akshay Shukla. While the soul of the festival is MK Patel, the core members of the organising committee are Kishorbhai Chavda, Shailesh Pandya, Rajay Thakar, Vinubhai Patel, compere by V Narhari and festival critic is Guru Vijay Shanker.
