Birju Maharaj, the Kathak maestro and his team of disciples hypnotized the audience with their performance on the final day of the Maharana Kumbha Sangeet Samaroh, here at the Sukhadia Rangmanch on January 15, 2012.

The evening started with the Krishna Aradhana, where Sashwati, Birju Maharajs’ disciple, presented Adhram Madhuram Nainam Madhuram in the form of playlet, through which she brought to life the motherly love of Yashoda for Krishna and the naughty patterns of Krishna’s childhood.

This set the stage for the other performances of the evening as the audiences waited for presentations of devotion, beauty and love through renditions of various fables through Kathak.

“Ban than khelan aayo re hori…” the lyrics on which the ghungroos obeyed Birju Maharaj’s lively display of color and emotions through Kathak dance, simulated the Holi environment in January itself.

Such was the intensity of the dance and the overall performance, that it was difficult to believe that the festival of Holi was still a couple of months away. The liveliness of the renditions of Krishna applying color on Radha and the sulking of Radha ensured immense concentration from the audience.

Though Birju Maharaj could not perform much due to ill health, his disciples ensured that the audience got more than their share of expectations for the evening.

Mamta, one of the senior disciples of Birju Maharaj, presented the Ahilya Uddhari portion from the Ramayana on stage in which she adroitly simulated the flirting of Indra with Ahilya after taking the guise of Maharishi Gautam; Ahilya turning to stone after being cursed by Maharishi Gautam; Ram eradicating the curse; etc.

Birju Maharaj and his disciple Sashwati were later felicitated towards the culmination of the program.

This brings to end the 2012 Maharan Kumbha Sangeet Samaroh. We hope that we have been able to update our readers and patrons as per their expectations.