Cultural fest at NTR Stadium

The celebration showcases India's diverse cultural heritage

Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav, a flagship programme of the Union Ministry of Culture, will be held from April 1 to 3 at NTR Stadium, Hyderabad. The national cultural festival seeks to promote and popularise traditional Indian culture and heritage. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu will inaugurate the event.

On day one, at 8 pm, Bharatanatyam exponent Ananda Shankar Jayant and her team of 18 dancers will open the classical dance segment with 'Vande Bharata Mataram', a poem by Telugu poet Rayaprolu Subba Rao that eulogizes the motherland. This will be followed by 'Sri Rama Nama', a dance choreography that brings alive the devotional Telugu poetry and music of saint-bard Badrachala Ramadas of Telangana, whose compositions are popular across South India. The finale of the 45-minute programme is 'Om Namah Shivaya', a dance dedicated to Lord Shiva. Shankar-Ehsan-Loy will be performing at 9 pm.

On April 2, from 7 pm, folk artistes will perform, followed by a classical music performance 'Taal India' by Banyan Tree. At 9 pm, Telugu film music composer S S Thaman will perform.

On the final day, April 3, performances by local and folk artistes will be followed by Jayaprabha Menon's classical dance.

The grand finale to the fest will be a musical performance by L Subrahmaniam and Kavita Krishnamurthy at 9.00 pm.