By Neha Kirpal
At the 51st Khajuraho Dance Festival, which took place from the 20th to 26th of February, history was created with a Guinness Book of World Record for the longest Indian classical dance marathon relay by 139 dancers.
The dance marathon began at 2.34 pm on 19th February and ended at 2.43 pm on 20th February, continuing non-stop for 24 hours, 9 minutes and 26 seconds. The world record performance was conceptualised, composed and produced by percussionist Kaushik Basu, choreographed by Kathak dancer and actor Prachee Shah Paandya, assisted by Avenav Mukherjee, and coordinated by impresario Pratyush Puru Dadhich.
The week-long festival saw performances in Kathakali by the International Center for Kathakali and Sadanam K Harikumar; Mohiniyattam by Pallavi Krishnan, Gayathri Madhusudan and Bharti Shivaji; Odissi by Kalyani-Vaidehi Phagre, Pravat Kumar Swain and Ratikant Mohapatra; Manipuri by Darshana Jhaveri and Guru Kalavati-Bimbavati Devi; Bharatanatyam by Dr Sandhya Purecha, Kamna Nayak and Meenakshi Seshadri; Chhau by Shashadhar Acharya; Kuchipudi by Deepika Reddy and Radha-Raja Reddy; Kathak by Palak Patwadhan, Aditi Mangaldas, Shovana Narayan and Piyush Raj-Sunil Sankara; and Sattriya by Guru Jatin Goswami.
Watching the performances against the backdrop of the ancient sandstone temples all lit up in the evening was truly a majestic sight. This year, for the first time, there was also a children’s dance festival as part of the programme, with daily performances from child participants between the age of 10 and 16 years. Apart from this, there was also a Naad musical instruments exhibition and a vibrant shopping bazaar among other attractions.
In the daytime, we got a chance to visit the Western Group of the Khajuraho Temples, which were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. Khajuraho is a sleepy town with a total population of about 25,000 people. Apart from being popular with both Indian and international tourists, it is also an important wedding destination. The Chandelas established it as a cultural capital city with temples, lakes and gardens. The dynasty, which ruled here for two hundred years, established these temples in the Nagara style of architecture.
One of the major temples here is the Kandariya Mahadev Temple. Built by King Vidyadhar and dedicated to Lord Shiva, it is the tallest and youngest in the entire complex. The most beautiful temple here is the Lakshman temple, dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The outer walls of the temples are adorned with scenes from the Kamasutra.
Close by the temples is another place worth exploring, the Aadivart Cultural Village. The museum consists of houses of all seven major tribes of the state, i.e., Gond, Baiga, Bheel, Bharia, Korku, Kol and Saharia along with those of all five cultural regions, i.e., Baghelkhand, Bundelkhand, Malwa, Nimar and Chambal. Highlighting rural life in the state, the facility also houses an art gallery as well as a cafe.
Another fascinating location is the Raneh waterfalls and the Ken Gharial Sanctuary, about 20 kilometres from Khajuraho. Located in the midst of a forest, the 5 kilometre long canyon made out of volcanic lava, is called a “mini Grand Canyon”. Home to approximately 10 to 15 gharials and thousands of crocodiles, the crater has five different kinds of rocks in various colours – quartz (silver), granite (pink), dolomite (yellow), basalt (black) and jasper (dark red) – which have been created by the volcano that erupted about 470 million years ago.
A number of trees are found in this region. These include the Indian ghost tree, which produces edible gum and changes its colours depending on the season, shining like radium in the moonlight. Frankincense trees, whose gum is used to make candles and wood is used to make matchsticks, are also found here. Then there are Tendu trees, whose leaves are used to make beedis. Further, there are teakwood trees, which are used for making furniture.
