The cultural zing is back in Mysuru after a two-year lull and a slew of festivals and events related to drama, music and folk are being held in the city since the last few days is a testimony to it.
While the national theatre festival Bahurupi which concluded recently saw as many as 35 plays from across India being staged in the city, a five-day theatre festival organised by Abhiyenthararu – A Theatre for Engineers, in association with the Ministry of Culture, New Delhi got underway at Kiru Rangamandira on the Kalamandira premises here on Thursday.
Besides, the Department of Kannada and Culture and Mysuru District Amateur Theatre Artistes Forum celebrated the World Theatre Day on Sunday. Similarly, Niranthara Ranga Utsava – a five-day theatre festival was held from March 24th to 27th all of which drew a large crowd. Karnataka Nataka Academy and Desiranga also celebrated World Theatre Day.
Besides, music and dance programmes being organised by various institutions and cultural groups have also gained traction, all of which had come to a stop following the outbreak of COVID-19 and the lockdown which was announced two years ago.
Theatre artiste C.V.Saritha said that Mysuru is known to be a hub for theatre activities and lot of amateur groups are active and engages with the people of Mysuru. Apart from Rangayana, there are groups like Rangavalli, Nirantara, GPIER, Abhiyantarur, Sanchalana, Parivartana to name a few, she said and pointed out that even Rangayana was established in the city in view of Mysuru’s vibrant amateur theatre scene.
It is reckoned that there are about 25 to 30 troupes which are active at present in Mysuru and most of them are active throughout the year but tend to have a short festival between January and March which adds to the cultural vibes of the city.
Pandit Ravi Shankar Mishra, a renowned flautist in the Hindustani genre said music concerts are not only back but even the audience are returning to watch the programme. For an artiste there is nothing more energizing than giving a live performance in front of audience and things are surely looking promising and better, he added.
Though artistes kept themselves busy during the pandemic and lockdown through online or virtual programmes, brain storming sessions and honed their knowledge through workshops, the audience was missing.
But with the COVID-19 restrictions being removed and the number of active cases at an all-time low since the outbreak of the pandemic, the cultural scene is looking bright again and there are regular programmes at Nadabrahma Sangeetha Sabha, Veene Seshanna Bhavan, Jaganmohan Palae etc said Pandit Ravi Shankar Mishra.
