The 4th World Kuchipudi Day was celebrated here on Sunday. The village wore a festive look as thousands of Kuchipudi artistes, members of various academies, and Ministers participated in the celebrations.
The event was organised jointly by the A.P. State Department of Language and Culture, Sri Potti Sriramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad, Kuchipudi Academy, Chennai, and NGOs such as Save Kuchipudi Artiste and Jayaho Bharateeyam on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Padma Bhushan awardee Vempati Chinna Satyam, at Sri Siddendra Yogi Kalakshetram.
About 1,000 students performed a dance ballet titled, ‘Brahmanjali Maha Brunda Nrutyam’. The ‘Mahishasura Mardhini’ dance and other performances by Kameswari and her troupe enthralled the audience. Ms. Kameswari is the granddaughter of Vempati Chinna Satyam.
Tourism Minister R.K. Roja, Housing Minister Jogi Ramesh, Pamarru MLA K. Anil Kumar, Collector P. Raja Babu, Kuchipudi exponent and actor Manju Bhargavi participated.
Later, Ms. Manju Bhargavi was awarded the Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam Jayanthi Puraskaram and a cash prize of ₹2 lakh.
Kalakshetram principal Vedantam Ramalinga Sastry was conferred with the Siddendra Yogi Puraskaram on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, the Ministers recalled the services of Venpati Chinna Satyam to Kuchipudi dance, and stressed the need to protect the tradition.
State Creativity and Culture Commission chairperson V. Usha, CEO R. Malliharjuna Rao, Kendra Sangeeta Nataka Academy member S.P. Bharathi and others participated.
