Kashi set to host 6-day Sankat Mochan music fest from Apr 16

Binay Singh / Apr 11, 2025, 00:43 IST

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Kashi set to host 6-day Sankat Mochan music fest from Apr 16

Varanasi: Kashi will host the annual musical extravaganza -Sankat Mochan Music Festival, from April 16 to 21 in the courtyard of the historic Sankat Mochan temple on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti Festival. A confluence of music, dance, and singing will flow at the temple, where many Padma awardees and debut artists will present their performances during the musical fest.
Professor Vishwambharnath Mishra, the Mahant of Sankat Mochan Temple, on Thursday said that the programme, entirely based on classical music, will feature nationally and internationally acclaimed artists. It will see participation of 11 Padma awardees and 16 debut artists.
The flute recital by Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia from Mubsai will mark the beginning of the music festival on April 16. He will be followed by Janani Murali (Bharatanatyam) from Bangaluru, Pt Rahul Sharma (santoor) from Mumbai, Yella Venkateshwara Rao (mridangam) from Hyderabad, Pt Pravin Godkhindi (flute) from Bangaluru, Pt Ajay Pohankar (vocal) from Mumbai, Pt Vikas Maharaj, Vibhash Maharaj (sarod-sitar) from Varanasi, and Rohit Pawar (Kathak) from Delhi.
The second night will feature Lavanya Shankar (Bharatanatyam) from Chennai, Rajesh Shah (sitar) from Varanasi, Pt Ajay Chakraborty (vocal) from Kolkata, Vivek Pandya (tabla solo) from USA, Pt Purbayan Chatterjee (sitar) from Kolkata, Sohini Roy Chowdhury (vocal) from Kolkata, Manjunath Madhavappa, Nagaraj Madhavappa (violin) from Mysuru, and Pt Neeraj Parikh (vocal) from Ahmedabad.

The third night, April 18, will witness the performance of U Rajesh (mandolin) from Chennai, Pt Shivamani (percussion) from Chennai, Saurav-Gaurav Mishra (Kathak) from Varanasi, Omkar Havaldar (vocal) from Bangaluru, Pt Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Salil Bhatt (Mohan Veena-Satvik Veena) from Jaipur, Deepika Varadarajan (vocal) from Chennai, Pt Rajendra Sejwar (vocal) from Gaya, Pt Abhay Rustum Sopori (santoor) from Delhi, and Pt Harish Tiwari (vocal) from Delhi.
The fourth night, April 19, will feature V Anuradha Singh (Kathak) from Bhopal, Pt Sahitya Kumar Nahar - Pt Sotosh Nahar (sitar-violin) from Lucknow and Delhi, Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar (Dhrupad) from Delhi, Pt Jaydeep Ghosh (sarod) from Kolkata, Pt Ramshankar, Sneha Shankar (vocal) from Mumbai, Prabhakar-Diwakar Kashyap (vocal) from Khairagarh and Chandigarh, and Vidushi Kankana Banerjee (vocal) from Mumbai.
The fifth night, April 20, will witness the performance of Nayanika Ghosh (Kathak) from Delhi, Abhishek Lahiri (sarod) from Kolkata, Armaan Khan (vocal) from Kolkata, Pt Tarun Bhattacharya (santoor) from Kolkata, Pt Jayateerth Meundi (vocal) from Hubli, Shahana Banerjee (sitar) from Pune, and Pt Sanju Sahai (tabla solo) from Varanasi.
The concluding night, April 21, will feature Pt Ratikant Mohapatra (Odissi) from Bhubneshwar, Pt Ulhas Kashalkar (vocal) from Pune, Ustad Mehtab Ali Niyazi (sitar) from Mumbai, Pt Anup Jalota (vocal) from Mumbai, Pt Suresh Gandharva (vocal) from Delhi, Pt Ronu Majumdar- Rishikesh Majumdar (flute) from Mumbai, and Pt Sajan Mishra- Swaransh Mishra (vocal) from Delhi.
The Hanuman Jayanti celebrations will begin on April 12 with special adornment, tableau, aarti, and worship of Lord Hanuman at the temple. In the morning session, there will be shehnai playing, Rudrabhishek by Brahmins, a one-day reading of Shri Ramcharitmanas, Sitaram Sankirtan, Ramarcha Puja, and a reading of Sundarkand from Valmiki Ramayana. At 5pm, there will be a Sankirtan by he Ramakrishna Mission's singing groups, and throughout the night, various Ramayana groups from the city will conduct an uninterrupted reading of Shri Ramcharitmanas. From April 13 to April 15, a Universal Ramayana Conference will be held, featuring renowned speakers from Kashi and across the country, delivering discourses.

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