The Girnar Festival was organised in Junagadh(Gujarat) from September 15 to 19th at the Junagadh Agricultural University auditorium by Patel Cultural Foundation (Mumbai) with the support from Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Gujarat, Seva Foundation and Vivid Arts Entertainment. This annual festival attracts the attention of classical dancers and musicians from all over the country and and is awaited anxiously by the local people.
The participating artists were Dr Uma and Vaidehi Rele, Mitali Varadkar and Shreya Sabharwal, Somangka Bhattacharya, Sanjeev Bhattacharya, Dipal Mehta, Maya Mategoaonkar, Ankit Parekh, Raakhi Odissi Group, Aparna Ramkrishnan, Vasu and Vaibhav Krishna, Ratish Babu Group,Manoj Saraf, Anuratn Rai and Vijaykumar, Minakshi Mazumdar, Madhumita Mishra, Aritra Das group,Vaishali Patel and Shivangi Agnihotri, Shyamala Surendran group, Laxminarayan Jena, Anirudh Srinivasraghavan, Satish Krishnamurti and Shivaparsad group, Ankur Balal group and Vrunda Upadhyay group, Rupali and Disha Desai, Guru Kala Vijayan Mohiniatam group, Shruti Adhikari, Gajendra Panda group Purvi Bhave, Sneha Ponigipalli, Shyama Bhate group and Amir Khan for Sarod.
The festival commenced with the exquisite Odissi by Mitali Varadkar and Shreya Sabharwal, disciples of Odissi exponent Shubhada Varadkar. The duo performed the Shiva number, exploring the glory and the majesty of the Lord with suitable movements, they also performed the Pallavi and ashtapadi. Dr Uma Rela and Vaidehi performed the Papanashanshivam padam :Amma” that reveals the relationship between Mother Yasoda and Krishna. Dr Uma was impressive in the role of Yasoda and Krishna by Vaidehi. The mother-daughter team created a fine impression with the rendering of the Shiva number.
Sanjeeb Bhattacharya is among the leading Manipuri dancers, He created a great impression with the rendering of the ball play known as Kanduk Khel, Tarana and Krishnaya Tubhyam Namah incorporating the main facets in the life of lord Krishna Aparna Ramakrishnan rendered a neat and and sparkling performance, revealing her mastery over Bharata Nayam. Kathak duo Vasu and Vaibhav Krishna created magical spell with their “Layakari” but one can expect more in expressional dancing.
Manoj Saraf’s dhrupad recital was noteworthy for its effortless ease and command over the “gayaki”. Anuratn for Hindustani and Vijaykumar for carnatic music regaled the audience with their powerful rendering. Disciples of Guru Rateesh Babu created a lasting impression with their Bharata Natyam and Kuchipudi performance, noteworthy for its stylistic and dramatic quality.
Vrunda Upadyay and disciples rendered a pleasing Bharata Natyam recital and Mrindamgam maestro Satish Krishnamurhty revealed his command over rhythm and musical composition. Madhumita Mishra group with Aritra Das as the only male dancer. performed the Dashavataram well Laxminarayan Jena, disciple of Mysore nagaraj performed the Shiva number, while describing the power and glory of the Lord with rhythmic and expressional quality. Charming Purvi Bhave is the disicple of Dr Sandhya Purecha, her performance was quite remarkable.
Shyamala Surendran group casted a spel on the audience with their vibrant and lively Bharata Natyam performance. Guru Kala Vijayan was the only group to perform Bharata Natyam in its traditional quality and framework. Sbruti Adhikari from Bhopal captured the audience with melodious Santoor recital Ankur Balal and group from Mumbai performed Odissi with lot of involvement and elegance, creating a lasting impression on the audience, On the whole a fine festival with lot of promising talent.
