Taking forward Guru-Shishya Parampara: Knowledge through surrender

Celebrating and honouring the contribution of Guru Mohanrao ji in Kathak, ‘Ek Antaranga’ organised by Elara Productions concluded in the capital recently.

Present to witness and bless the show were Shri. Suman Kumar (Director, Kathak Kendra & Deputy Secretary, Sangeet Natak Akademi), Guru Smt. Manjushree Chatterjee (SNA Awardee), Smt. Rashmi Vajpeyi, Smt. Arshiya Sethi, Guru Smt. Neelima Adya, Ashok Maharaj and many more. 

Guru Smt. Padma Sharma, Guru Smt. Poornima Pandey, Guru Smt. Roshan Date, Padma Shri Guru Smt. Shovana Narayan (SNA Awardee) and Guru Shri. Mysore B. Nagraj also graced the event with their best wishes and blessings through short videos. 

The event opened with a graceful presentation of a Malkos Tarana by Devika Agarwal, Shreejeeta Ghosh and Amit Ray. Following the Tarana , in celebration and honor of the contribution of Guru Mohanrao Kallianpurkar ji to Kathak – Guru Subhash Chandra in conversations with Smt. Rashmi Vajpeyi took us on a beautiful journey with some unsaid, untold stories and bandish of the puranic era and bringing back some fond memories that a lot would relate to.

L-R Guru Subhash Chandra, Dr. Sabita Kalliyanpurkar, Dr. Vinod Kalliyanpurkar, Smt. Rashmi Vajpai, Smt. Manjushree Chatterjee and Shri. Suman Kumar.

Shri. Suman Kumar (Director, Kathak Kendra & Deputy Secretary, Sangeet Natak Akademi) in the event discussed the contribution of Guru Kalyanpurkar Ji in giving freedom to dance which was otherwise refrained to a Khandan/Home. Performing Arts teaches you a way of life, it teaches you how to live life. Hence this knowledge should be shared amongst all.

Dr. Vinod Kallianpurkar (Mohanrao ji’s son) along with his wife Dr. Sabita Kallianpurkar graced the occasion with their esteemed presence. They were overwhelmed to see the love and respect people had for guruji and his work.

The event brought together disciples, friends, acquaintances, colleagues and family, all under one roof at one time to celebrate the great vidhwan and reminiscing the beautiful 1930’s era.

Elara Productions is a multi-dimensional production house aiming to promote and preserve the art and culture heritage of India. Founded in 2021 by Devika Agarwal and Shreejeeta Ghosh), the production house wishes to bring to the audience rooted traditions in the form of art, craft, music and the performing arts, along with promoting ‘Made in India’.

“This is just the beginning. We are looking forward for a series of events where we all sit together and exchange ideas and keep the traditions alive”, says Devika Agarwal, Co-founder – Elara Productions.

Adding to it Shreejeeta Ghosh (Co-founder) states that, “the production house aims for inclusivity and acceptance across genres and forms which otherwise is a major miss these days. The production house also aims to target and inspire young entrepreneurs in the field of performing arts.

Lastly Elara Productions aims at viewing performing arts from not just an entertainment perspective but also knowledge perspective.”