For a befitting start to the forthcoming 12-day Pushkarams, the river festival set to take off from August 12, a large throng of 1,000-odd folk and traditional artists will accord a warm welcome to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at Pavitra Sangamam, the place that signifies the union of the Godavari and Krishna rivers at Ibrahimpatnam near Vijayawada. Mr. Naidu will kick off the celebrations from here.
Officials of the Departments of Culture, Endowments and the AP Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) have jointly chalked out an elaborate plan that envisages showcasing Andhra culture through the series of programmes being designed to entertain and educate people of the State all through the festival period.
The Pushkar Swagat Sabha that will follow will include presentation of a colourful cultural programme that will include both folk and traditional dance forms.
Krishna Theeram , a compilation of 160-odd articles that highlight all aspects of River Krishna, will be released by the Chief Minister on the occasion.
The Krishna River is the fourth biggest river in terms of water inflows and river basin area in the country, after the Ganga, the Godavari and the Brahmaputra. The Krishna Theeram will also speak about the origin of the river, its tributaries and other facets.
In the process of putting together everything related to the river festival, officials of the Department of Culture have laid their hands on a souvenir published in English way back in 1945 when Pushkarams were started. “It’s a valuable treasure with articles contributed by the likes of Rukmini Devi Arundale, the Indian classical dancer and theosophist and paintings of Raja Ravi Varma. So we have decided to re-print the book which will also be released by the Chief Minister,” said Director of the Department of Culture D. Vizai Bhaskar.
The inaugural session will have presentations by stalwarts like Kuchipudi danseuse Vinjamuri Sujatha, a musical concert by Vandemataram Srinivas and by mridangam player Yalla Malleswara Rao.
Main venues In Vijayawada city, the Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation Stadium and Tummalapalli Kala Kshetram will be the main venues for Pushkaram programmes besides Pavitra Sangamam in Ibrahimpatnam, Avanigadda, Nagayalanka, Pedda Kallepalli and Hamsaladeevi.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams will organise similar programmes in Amaravati and in Srikakulam district.
“Of all dance forms, Kuchipudi being the indigenous dance form, will get prominence while Bharata Natyam, Carnatic music, Yakshagana, bhakti sangeet will be among other entertaining programmes,” said Mr. Bhaskar.
Sources in the department indicate that initially it was planned to stick to the August 11 midnight muhurtam (auspicious time) for Pushkaram inaugural. But the fact that people take a holy dip only in the sunrise hours made the officials to drift from their original plan and switch to the early hours of August 12.
