Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): “My body may be in Bhopal but my soul is in Khajuraho,” said chief minister Mohan Yadav while virtually inaugurating the 52nd Khajuraho Dance Festival.
Praising the line-up of performances at the festival, he congratulated the state’s culture department, the organiser of the event. He added that the allocation for the culture department had been raised substantially in this year’s budget.
He praised Bundelkhand (of which Khajuraho is a part) as a land of unmatched valour and splendorous culture. He recalled that the state cabinet’s meeting was organised in the region recently to boost to its development.
The seven-day cultural extravaganza began with a dance drama, Pratishtha, by Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee kathak dancer and choreographer Maitreyee Pahari and her troupe from Delhi. It was followed by Bharatnatyam presented by exponent Anuradha Venkatraman from Chennai and Odissi dancer Shubhada Varadkar from Mumbai.
The festival, themed on Natraj, was organised by the Ustad Alauddin Khan Sangeet Evam Kala Akademi in association with the Archaeological Survey of India and others.
