Madanotsava, Gupta period fest, to welcome spring today

Day-long activities on 1,600-year-old tradition at Ramanjaneya Gudda

Dance, music, poetry and food will be among the variety of attractions at Madanotsava, a festival celebrating the arrival of spring today.

Internationally acclaimed Kathak exponents Nirupama and T D Rajendra and their production house Abhinava Dance Company, accompanied by over 200 artistes, will render Madanotsava, which is said to be a 1,600-year-old festival, amid the greenery of the Ramanjaneya Gudda, a verdant hillock in Hanumanthanagar.

“Madanotsava is festival dating back to the Gupta period and used to be celebrated across the country. The tradition somehow faded away and has now been revived by Shatavadani Ganesh,” says Rajendra, who adds that they first performed the dance in 2018. “This year, there is an extension to the song on Madana, the God of Love, as he enters the garden,” says Rajendra.

“Part of the festival is Sahakara Banjikotsava – fun dance around a mango tree and Charchari Nritya – a simple clap dance,” says Rajendra, where his troupe first performs the dance around the tree and then will be joined by the community. “As the melody finishes, the dancers jump up and pluck the mangoes from the tree, like it used to be done during the Gupta period,” says Rajendra, who adds that the festival, packed with action from 7.30 am to 9 pm, will also include fun traditional games and outdoor activities. The festival will also feature a special segment of art called Kavya-Chitra-Geetha-Nrithya to be presented by artistes B K S Varma, Shatavadhani R Ganesh, Praveen D Rao, Nagavalli Nagaraj, and Nirupama Rajendra, where painting, poetry, music and classical dance will harmoniously come together as one experience. Carnatic veena concert by Rajhesh Vaidhya and rhythmic beats by ensemble the Beat Gurus will complete the celebration.

The festival also marks 25 years of Abhinava Dance Company. “It’s been a long journey for us. Our stint in the UK showed us how much quality matters. We wanted to adopt this aspect in our productions. Like in the Broadway musicals, production quality is paramount for us, with no compromises. The aim is to transport the audience to another plane,” says Rajendra.

Highlights of the event

Special choreography on God of Love ‘Madana’ and his five flowers presented by Abhinava Dance Company.

A segment of art called ‘Kavya- Chitra-Geetha-Nrithya’ will be presented by artistes BKS Varma, Dr R Ganesh, Praveen D Rao, Dr Nagavalli Nagaraj, and Nirupama Rajendra. Here painting, poetry, music and classical dance will all be created spontaneously and will harmoniously come together as one experience.

There will be a Carnatic Veena concert by the popular Rajhesh Vaidhya

Performance by popular percussion ensemble the ‘Beat Gurus’