Pune: Pune Navratri Festival, which is a beautiful confluence of art, culture, singing, playing, bhajans, dance and music, is celebrating its 31st year this year. The festival will be inaugurated on Monday, September 22, at 4.30 pm by Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule at Shri Ganesh Kala Krida Rangmanch.
On this occasion, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation and Cooperation Muralidhar Mohal, State Minister of Higher and Technical Education Chandrakant Patil, senior Gandhian thinker and former MLA Ulhas Pawar, State Minister of State for Urban Development Madhuri Misal, Rajya Sabha MP Dr Medha Kulkarni, MLA Dr Vishwajit Kadam, BJP City President Dheeraj Ghate, Former Minister of State for Home Ramesh Bagwe, Pune Municipal Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram, Pune City Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar, and Additional Police Commissioner Sanjay Patil will be present as the chief guests.
Special attraction of the inauguration
The special presence of film stars Bhargavi Chirmule, Teja Devkar, Sania Chaudhary, Sheetal Ahirrao, Radha Sagar, Siya Patil, Rujuta Junnarkar, Amrita Dhongde, and Vaishnavi Patil will be a highlight in this inaugural ceremony. All the programmes of this festival are free for the fans. This information was given by the organising president of the Pune Navratri Festival, Aba Bagul, in a press conference.
Bagul said, "On Monday, September 22, the day of Ghatsthapana, the installation of the idol will be done at the auspicious time of 6.41 am by Aba Bagul and Jayashree Bagul at Shri Laxmi Mata Temple in Shivdarshan. This year, a grand scene of the 72-foot-high Meenakshi Temple from Madurai is being created in this temple, and about 80 artists from the south are working on this scene."
Maharshi – Lakshmi Mata Lifetime Achievement Award given annually
Bagul further said that every year, a distinguished person who has performed exceptionally well in this inaugural ceremony is honoured with the 'Maharshi Award'. This year, Padma Shri Girish Prabhune, a social worker who has worked tirelessly for the upbringing, education and culture of children from the nomadic community, will be honoured with the Maharshi Award, said Aba Bagul.
Similarly, individuals who have consistently contributed in various fields are honoured with the Shri Laxmi Mata Jeevan Gaurav Award at this inaugural ceremony. This year's awardees are Dr Parag Kalkar (Pro-Vice Chancellor of Savitribai Phule Pune University), State Director of Higher Education Dr Shailendra Devlankar, social activist Dr Megha Purav Samant, co-founder of Buldhana Cooperative Bank Shirish Deshpande and folk artist Pramila Lodgekar. Apart from this, Dr Mayur Kardile and Dr Arvind Khomane will also be specially honoured.
Grand Opening Ceremony Cultural Programme
The inauguration ceremony will be grand and spectacular, like every year. In this, the programme 'Anand Tarang', which is a jugglery of sitar, violin, flute and tabla, will be presented by Dr Neelima Radkar and Madhavi Karandikar and group. Dance guru Pt Shama Bhate and colleagues 'Sharanye Rudra Chandike' will present the Kathak programme. Vinod Dhokte, Swati Dhokte and co-stars of 'Jagar Shakti Pithancha' will present the programme Devicha Gondal. The attraction of the inauguration ceremony will be the dance performance 'Jallosh' by Marathi film stars Bhargavi Chirmule, Teja Devkar, Sania Chaudhary, Sheetal Ahirrao, Radha Sagar, Siya Patil, Rujuta Junnarkar, Amrita Dhongde, and Vaishnavi Patil, which will enchant the audience. It has been choreographed by Nikita Moghe.
Cultural programmes at the festival
After the inauguration, various cultural programmes will be presented at Shri Ganesh Kala Krida Rangmanch, the only one in Pune, every day at 7 pm till Vijayadashami for 11 consecutive days.
On Tuesday, the 23rd, Abhijit Saraf, Kalyani Deshpande and Akshay Ghanekar will present the programme 'Nineties Melody', a collection of melodious songs from the 1990s.
On Wednesday, the 24th, the programme 'Ishq Sufiyana' will be presented by Sandeep Panchwatkar, Praveen Avchar, Sandeep Ubale and Vinal Deshmukh.
On Thursday, the 25th, 'Swar Samragnyiyaan', a programme of unique duet songs, will be presented by Radhika Atre, Rajeshwari Pawar, Kavita Sengar and Charulata Patankar.
On Friday, the 26th, the 'Musical Masters' LP & RD programme will be presented by Pallavi Patki Dhole, Sanjay Hivarale, Rafi Habib, Vinod Narwade and Bhagyashree Dumbare.
On Saturday, the 27th, Prithviraj Nagwade, Ankita Shivtare and Saugandh Kapse will present the programme 'Asmita Maharashtraachi' with 50 artists simultaneously.
On Sunday, the 28th, from 12 noon to 12 midnight, the only grand festival to preserve the folk art of Maharashtra will run for 12 consecutive hours, and the 'Lavani Festival', which is a must-see for women, will be a special attraction like every year. Lavani artists Seema Pote, Bhagyashree Baramatikar, Raksha Punekar, Kavya Punekar, Reel Star Kuku, and Varsha Mumbaikar and film actresses Archana Sawant, Jyoti Mumbaikar, Shalaka Punekar, and Sonali Shinde will perform in this festival.
On Monday the 29th, 'Total Music Dhamaka' will be performed by Mukesh Dedhia, Tejaswini Pahuja, Chandrasekhar Mahamuni, Madhuri Bhosekar and Akash Solanki.
On Tuesday, the 30th, the programme 'Bemisal Rafi' will be hosted by Aali Hussain, Anand Mhaswade and Kalyani Deshpande.
On October 1, 'Hrudayat Waje Something', a romantic song programme, will be presented by Tanvi Dataye, A Saraf, Avantika Dhumane and RJ Bandya.
On October 2, Vijayadashami, the vibrant programme 'Soulful Kishore Kumar' will be presented by veteran singers Jitendra Bhuruk, Rupali Ghogre and group, and this joyous musical celebration that has been going on for 11 consecutive days will conclude.
Treasurer Nandkumar Bangude, Vice President Ghansham Sawant, Secretary Nandkumar Kondhalkar, Member Ramesh Bhandari, Member Amit Bagul and Member Hemant Bagul were present.
