This will mark the beginning of the festive season. And what an auspicious note to start on. Janmashtami is round the corner (August 25) and celebrations for Satendra Singh, Chairman of Utthan Samiti, an NGO working to promote classical arts, has vigorously begun. The event will be commemorated with music and dance since Krishna himself was known to enjoy playing his transcendental flute, dancing to the tunes of divine love. Krishna Utsav is a two-day festival of performing arts dedicated to the deity of love.
A staunch Krishna bhakt, Singh finds himself completely immersed in the organising of the festival. His reverence prompted Singh to pay his respects by taking the celebrations to the public. “Krishna’s magic should be taken everywhere. For many of us he’s our hero, protector, philosopher, teacher, friend, brother, all in one. On this holy day, we celebrate all these relationships he stands for,” says Singh.
The rejoicing will begin with a kathak performance by Namrrta Raai and flute recital by Ajay Prasanna on the first day. The second day will see a vocal presentation by Vidhi Sharma and a sitar rendition by Gaurav Mazumdar. “We have a team of experts who select the artistes based on their standings and experience. Raai is a young, dynamic kathak exponent who has been doing well in India and abroad. Prasanna is a fine musician with a great sense of aesthetics. Sharma has a lovely voice and will be presenting Krishna bhajans and Mazumdar is a senior disciple of Pt Ravi Shankar, who has been performing with a great fan following. This man has received a lot of admiration for this talent over the years but still remains one of the humblest people I know,” Singh says, with a smile.
Since the closing day of the festival is Janmashtami, Krishna bhajans will be performed. After that, Singh and his team will prepare for the puja (prayer) to celebrate Krishna’s birth at 12 am. With that, the day will end on a holy note.
August 24-25, at Triveni Kala Sangam, Mandi House, at 6.30 pm. Free entry.