Dr Veena Murthy Vijay leads Sri Rajarajeshwari Kalaniketan and directs Apsara, the second act of its golden jubilee programme in Bengaluru on 19 September 2026.
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], September 8: Sri Rajarajeshwari Kalaniketan, one of Bengaluru’s oldest classical dance institutions, completes fifty years in 2026 and marks the occasion with a full-day festival at Chowdiah Memorial Hall on Saturday, 19 September.
The institution was founded in Bengaluru in 1976 by PNS Murthy and is today led by his daughter, Dr Veena Murthy Vijay, who received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar, conferred by the President of India on 13 August 2026. Over five decades, it has hosted more than 1,000 stage performances and trained over 500 students, and runs professional-course collaborations with Bangalore University and the Karnataka State Dr Gangubhai Hangal Music and Performing Arts University in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi.. She also recently signed an MOU with UK-based Arunima Dance Co to provide a structured curriculum and examination for UK-based Kuchipudi students.
Seating opens at 4.30 pm and the evening programme runs from 5.00 pm to 9.30 pm.
The Samanvay Puraskar
The evening opens with the Samanvay Puraskar, the annual honour by which the institution recognises senior figures in the arts. This year it goes to Smt Revathi Ramachandran, Director of Nada Gurukulam at the Sri Satya Sai University for Human Excellence and Director of the Kalakshetra Foundation from 2018 to 2023; Kalaimamani Acharya Smt Anitha Guha, founder and artistic director of Bharathanjali, Chennai; and Ganakalashree Dr Hamsini Nagendra, Carnatic vocalist and Professor of Music at Bangalore University.
Two full productions follow, staged as a double bill.
Act 1 — Satyabhama
Krishna’s proudest queen, the heroine of the Kuchipudi dance-drama Bama Kalapam, is read across four classical languages in a single continuous presentation of seventy-five minutes. Lakshmi Gopalaswamy performs her in Bharatanatyam, Vidha Lal in Kathak, Gopika Varma in Mohiniyattam and Dr Veena Murthy Vijay in Kuchipudi, with Mysore B. Nagaraj as Sutradhar, narrating in English.
Vidha Lal, who takes the heroine into Kathak, said Satyabhama is “usually remembered as the proud queen, but in this piece I found her a deeply loving wife.”
Act 2 — Apsara
Eleven apsaras of the celestial court — among them Urvashi, Menaka, Alambusha and Adrikaa — trace the journey from Devaloka to Bhuloka. The eleven roles are presented across four classical forms — Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathak and Odissi — and danced by nine established dancers drawn from different schools and lineages, among them Prateeksha Kashi, Shama Krishna and Vandana Supriya.
Apsara is directed by Dr Veena Murthy Vijay, with music by Pt. Praveen D Rao and script by Arjun Bharadwaj.
“Classical dance is not a museum piece, it is a living language,” said Dr Veena Murthy Vijay. “It must grow with society while staying rooted in its grammar.”
Dr Veena Murthy Vijay has been nominated a Governing Council Member of the Kalakshetra Foundation, Chennai, by the Ministry of Culture, and holds the Karnataka Kalashree.
Guests
Guests of honour for the evening include Sri Aneish Rajan, Director, Ministry of Culture, Government of India; Kalaimamani Smt Nandini Ramani, veteran Bharatanatyam exponent of the Balasaraswati tradition; Shatavadhani Dr R. Ganesh, scholar and polyglot, Padma Bhushan awardee; Sangeetha Kalacharya Dr Nagamani Srinath, Carnatic vocalist and Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee; and Smt Nirupama and Sri T D Rajendra of Abhinava Dance Company, Sangeet Natak Akademi awardees in Kathak.
The morning
The day opens at 9.30 am with the Adavu Jam, running to 1.00 pm — a shared working session on the foundational vocabulary of Indian classical dance, open to all comers. Participants include Parshwanath Upadhye (Bharatanatyam), Anuradha Vikranth, Krishnamurthy Thunga (Yakshagana), the Aayana Dance Company (Indian contemporary) and Dr Veena Murthy Vijay (Kuchipudi), with a 12.30 pm Bharatanatyam presentation by Ravali Mylarvapu, a disciple of Kalaimamani Smt Anitha Guha.
Guests for the morning session are Smt Shubha Dhananjay, Chairperson of the Karnataka Sangeetha Nrithya Academy, and Dr Pustakam Ramaa, Carnatic vocalist and Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee.
Lights and production for the entire event are by Surya N Rao.
For more details and tickets, please visit the website: www.kuchipudibangalore.com
About Sri Rajarajeshwari Kalaniketan
Founded in Bengaluru in 1976, Sri Rajarajeshwari Kalaniketan has spent five decades promoting and preserving Indian classical dance, staging more than 1,000 performances including All India Festivals and training over 500 students across classical dance, music and yoga. It is led by Dr Veena Murthy Vijay. The golden jubilee festival is dedicated to the memory of Smt and Sri PNS Murthy, Dr B. Sadasivudu, and Smt Savithri Velury.
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