CURATED BY – DHEERAJ KUMAR AHIRWAL | CITYCHIEFNEWS

Damoh, On the occasion of Shri Krishna Janmashtami, organized by the Culture Department of the State Government, the Art Expressions of Shri Krishna Kathaan program was inaugurated by the State Minister of Culture, Tourism, Religious Trust and Endowments (Independent Charge), Shri Dharmendra Singh Lodhi, by lighting a lamp in front of the picture of Mother Saraswati. On this occasion of Shri Krishna festival, State Backward Class Commission Chairman Dr. Ramakrishna Kusmaria, former Finance Minister and Damoh MLA Shri Jayant Kumar Malaiya, District Panchayat President Mrs. Ranjita Gaurav Patel, Collector Sudhir Kumar Kochar, CEO District Panchayat Arpit Verma, Additional Collector Meena Masram, SDM R.L. Bagri, CSC Abhishek Tiwari, Dheeraj Kumar, President of Parivartan Health and Education Welfare Society, along with a large number of citizens were present.
In this one day function Mamta Rani Joshi and fellow artists from Delhi presented devotional music whereas Shalini Khare and fellow artists from Jabalpur gave a mesmerizing performance of the dance drama Shri Krishna. After this, local artists presented singing/dancing performances. This program has been organized at 16 places in Madhya Pradesh including Bhopal.

Shalini Khare's team started the function with the performance of Kathak dance based on Ganesh Rakshasutra. Dance Guru Shalini Khare along with Pooja Raikwar, Kriti Thackeray, Yoshita Singh took their performance forward and presented Draupadi Cheer Haran on stage in Gatbhaav. Kathak depicts a story with Gatbhaav Abhinaya. Shalini presented the famous Draupadi Cheer Haran story of Mahabharata. Through her solo performance, she brought alive all the characters of Mahabharata on stage. Extending the gathering, she presented the Teentaal based Kathak performance Tarana. After this, Radha-Krishna Holi whose lyrics were Rang daalungi Nand ke laalan pe… was presented. The presentation showed that Radha, along with her friends, plans to apply color on Krishna. Krishna too reaches there with his friends to apply color on him. Radha, along with her friends, teases Krishna.

Taking this sequence forward, Mamta Rani Joshi soaked the audience in the essence of devotion with her melodious voice. Ustad Bismillah Khan Sangeet Natak Academy Yuva Rashtriya Award winner Mamta described Meera's love for Krishna by singing Meera Jahar ka Pyala Pee Gayi Re…. For the wise people, she presented the song full of love and devotion Achyutam Keshavam Krishna Damodaram… and Mera Kanha Sakhiyan Sang Raas Rachayi…. Extending the program, by singing songs like Shyam Tera Hi Thikana Hai in the streets of Vrindavan…, Hath Khadtal Para Wich Wich Ghungroo Mirabai Nachdi… and Shri Vrindavan Bihari is decorated in flowers…, the Damoh audience was given a glimpse of the holy land of Brij. The audience filled with the love of Shri Krishna was colored in Shyam color through the songs Radhe Mujhe Braj Ka Bana De…, Nachana Mein Nachna Shyam De Naal… and Hori Khelungi Nandlal…. After this, the song Krishna Govind Hare Murari Hey Nath Narayan Vasudeva… was presented. Bhuvan Sharma on harmonium, Roshan Lal on drums, Sumit Kumar on tabla, Harsh on keyboard, Bhavru Khan on Khadtal accompanied him. Among the local artists, Bhupat Singh Lodhi and fellow artists from Damoh performed Bundelkhandi folk dance Rai and Bhagwati Bai and fellow artists from Damoh performed. On this occasion, Narmada Singh Ekta, Tehsildar Mohit Jain, Municipal Officer Ritu Purohit, District Education Officer SK Nema, Public Campaign Council Coordinator Sushil Namdev, Urban Development Agency Project Officer Kapil Khare, respected media persons, and a large number of citizens and women were present. The program was conducted by renowned theatre artist Rajiv Ayachi and Dr. Alok Sonwalkar and Vipin Choubey.