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 36th Pt Durgalal Festival- Vijay Shankere-mail: vijaydance@gmail.com Photos: Suresh Muraleedharan March 24, 2026 Sam Ved Society of Performing Arts presented the 36th Pt Durgalal Festival as a mark of tribute to the renowned Kathak exponent Pt Durgalal, the torch bearer of the Jaipur Gharana, who mesmerized audiences around the world with his scintillating performances. His ardent disciple, Guru Uma Dogra, on behalf of Sam Ved Society, organises this annual festival in order to express her reverence to the great mentor. The programme was held at the Veer Savarkar auditorium in Shivaji Park, Mumbai on 20th February, featuring two brilliant dancers, Meera Sreenarayanan in the Bharatanatyam style and Pooja Pant in the Kathak style.  Meera Sreenarayanan Trained under Prakash Choondal, RLV Anand and Kalakshetra's Nirmala Nagaraj, Meera continues her advanced training with Indira Kadambi and also undergoes consistent training in Navarasa Sadhana with Guru G Venu. It was indeed a memorable experience to witness the immaculate performance, as she was completely involved in the presentation, rendering her best, hence the receptive audience applauded her with a standing ovation. The thematic presentation 'Harini' portrays the goddess radiant with ultimate nectar, based on the spiritual idea of life and emotion with the focus on the bee, considered the symbol of jeevatama (individual soul), the silent companion to goddess Lakshmi, whose radiance with the golden lotus is the journey guide and the destination too for the bee. The bee hovers around the lotus and expresses the varied emotions like love, surprise, fear, irritation, anxiety, ultimate happiness and fulfilment as the goddess grants grace not by removing the emotion but by allowing the bee to transcend eventually to taste the nectar, hence the lotus closes and the bee is absorbed inside. It was indeed a power packed performance. It was an unusual experience to watch the dancer with such dexterity and joie-de-vivre. Harini is based on Soundarya Lahiri, Durga Saptashati, Sri Sookta, Srimad Bhagavatham and Shri Stuti of Vedanta Desikar with compositions rendered by Muthuswamy Dikshitar, Purandara Dasa, Annamacharya and Balarama Das. Choreography and presentation was by Meera Sreenarayanan, music by Edapally Ajit Kumar, jatis by Meera, vocal by Bijeesh Krishna, mridangam by Charudutt VV, flute by Hari Prasad, veena by Sounderajan and lights by Anand Sateendran.  Pooja Pant Kathak by Pooja Pant and her troupe of talented dancers left a fine impression for the fine coordination of music and dance, uniformity with distinct movements and rhythmic precision. After the invocation, the dancers presented Dhrupad, rhythmic and complex movements in teen taal, Bhajan and the finale with the Tarana that was interspersed with poetic couplets in praise of the moon as the ultimate symbol of love and romance. Pooja Pant is the disciple of Kathak exponent and mentor Guru Rajashree Shirke and has several performances to her credit both in India and overseas. Pooja Pant received fine orchestral support on tabla by Pt Vivek Mishra, pakhawaj by Ganesh Sawant, vocal by Rutuja Lal, harmonium by Pushkraj Bhagwat and sitar by Aparna Deodhar.  Pooja Pant's ensemble Kathak exponent and mentor, Guru Uma Dogra says, "For the last 36 years we have been organizing this festival as a tribute to my dear mentor, Pt Durgalal, who left us quite early in life and we were all shattered. I arrived in Mumbai and then decided we must organise a special smruti festival as he was a legend and I must admit, one of the best male dancers that I have ever seen. His spirit lives in all of us and I cherish those moments I shared with such a great maestro. This is my humble offering". On behalf of Sam Ved Society of Performing Arts, Uma Dogra also organises the Raindrops Festival which is normally held during the monsoon period in July every year with the intention of supporting and encouraging young classical dancers as they are the future of India.  Vijay Shankar is a Kuchipudi and Kathakali exponent, teacher, bilingual journalist, arts critic and actor. |
