Musicians, dancers and saints will pay tribute to Swami Haridas, the legendary musician saint of Bhakti Kala, during a two-day festival in Vrindavan here on September 13 and 14.
'Swami Haridas Sangeet evam Nritya Samaroh', believed to be the oldest music and dance festival of India, will be held at in Raman Reti of Vrindavan, said Pradeep Mathur, the patron of Sangeet Shiromani Swami Haridas Samiti.
The festival will for the first time see a dance performance by students of Swami Haridas Music and Dance Academy under the direction of Mrs Surabhi Tandon.
This year the festival will offer music and dance in its composite form, featuring classical instrumentalists Bhaskar Nath (shehnai), Pandit Salil Bhatt (veena) and Usttad Shahid Parvez (sitar), Kathak dancers Asheem Bhattacharya and Uma Sharma among others, Mathur said, adding Bollywood actor Govinda and Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans would also be present.
Mathur, also a member of UP Congress Legislative Party, said, "Efforts are on to organise similar programme at international platform in London with the help of some NRIs."
"The festival is an annual pilgrimage for connoisseurs of Indian art and culture. Every year the festival is attended by thousands of art and music lovers to pay homage to the father of Dhrupad," said Samiti secretary Gopi Goswami said.
"The festival also provides platform for young artistes to perform in the presence of renowned personalities in the fields," Goswami said.
Born on the auspicious Radha Ashtami day at Brindravan about 500 years ago, Swami Haridas was a lyrical devotee of Lord Krishna and had performed extraordinary miracles with the power of his music.
