The holy town of Vrindavan will witness a-first-of-its-kind Divine Music Festival – Vrindavan Prakash Mahotsav aka Samkirtan Mahotsav– from November 17
th to 25
th, 2015. Spreading the message of peace, love and harmony through the route of spirituality – the week-long festival will feature over 40 different styles of music from across the country and various sacred traditions.
The festival will also feature dance and katha alongside musical tribute to the divine. The festival is being organised to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the 16th century monk and reformer Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and seeks to unite different cultures and create an environment of peace and harmony. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, is known for his strides to promote the community style devotional worship of Krishna with kirtans.
Samkritan- the music fest is a confluence of divine singing from temples across the country to the Shabad in gurudwaras, Sufi songs, Haveli kirtan, Samaj gayan, Dhrupad and Dhamar in temples to Carnatic Classical Samkirtan groups of the South and the very soul of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s life, Harinaam Sankirtan.
The inaugural event will feature various gifted artistes who are slated to perform at various days of the festival namely: the Halder group with 108 Mridangams, Warsi Brothers, Dhani Singh and party performing Charkula (a dance with multi-wicked lamps), The Manganiyaars from Rajasthan led by Anwar Khan, Padawali group from West Bengal (Suman Bhattacharya with 108 marjiras), Carnatic Vocalist B Suchitra who is a Harikatha exponent and the stunning performer - Parvati Das Baul.
Organised by Vrindavan based organisation, Earth Voice, with the support of Kathak Kendra, the Sangeet Natak Akademi and Dharmik Leela Commitee, the festival which has been designed and produced by the Delhi-based Showcraft Productions is set to be a an audio-visual treat.
The inaugural event on November 17th will be held on the ghats of Kusum Sarovar in Vrindavan and will feature a calibrated structure on water with a ramp connecting the stage, along with a musical spectacle backed by state of the art technology to make the event unforgettable. Veteran actress and Member Parliament, Hema Malini will be a special guest at the inaugural event along with other dignitaries.
Talking about adding a creative visual perspective to a celebration of spirituality, music and our cultural heritage, Lalitt Gattani, CEO, Showcraft Productions and creative director of the festival, says, “The sheer scale of this week-long celebration of faith, music and spirituality would evoke a sense of awe, by enhancing the technical and production quality and level, we at Showcraft wanted to ensure that feel of awe becomes an unforgettable memory for each person attending the Vrindavan Prakash Mahotsav. The event took over 2 months of pre-production preparations and the venues have seen over 200 people working non-stop for a week. The Fogla Ashram where the festival will be held has been decorated with specially designed props, a set of handpicked artistes have been brought in from Delhi to create Rasleela paintings.
He adds, “The stage has a dynamic backdrop with vibrant images to complement each performance. We have employed a line array system with multiple hosting points to ensure we get the same decibel levels across the venue. We have extensively used intelligent lighting to highlight the naturally beautiful surrounding while adding to the grandeur of props used.”
Daily Schedule of the festival is expected to be:
1008 Shreemad Bhagwal Mool Path: 5am-9am
Bal Bhog (Breakfast): 8:30am -9.30am
Shreemad Bhagwat Katha in Main Pandal, Fogla Ashram : 9:30am – 11:00am
Shree Man Madhawa Gaudeshwar Vaishnavacharya Shree Abhishek Goswami Maharaj: 12pm – 1:00pm
Rajbhog (Lunch) : 1:30pm – 2:30pm
ChaitanyaLeela at ShreejeeSadan, FoglaAshram : 3:00pm Onwards
Samkirtan Mahakumbh in Main Pandal, Fogla Ashram: 6:00pm Onwards
Byaru (Dinner): 9:30pm Onwards
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