Location Coimbatore | Dates 21 Feb – 23 Feb 2017 | |
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Similar ITC SRA Sangeet Sammelan, Music in the Hills, Pandit Motiram Pandit M, Dover Lane Music Conference, Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan | ||
Yaksha is an annual performing arts festival organized by the Isha Foundation at the Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore. Begun in January 2010, the festival features musical concerts and dances by eminent performing artistes from around the country and is aimed at preserving and promoting India's traditional music and dance forms. The name of the festival is inspired by Yakshas - celestial beings in Indian mythology.
Contents
Performances in 2011
Yaksha 2011 will be held from 24 February to 2 March 2011 with the theme "A Celebration of Culture and Music." The artist line-up includes, Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan on the Hindustani sitar, Odissi dancer Sonal Mansingh, Carnatic vocalist T. V. Sankaranarayanan, Hindustani vocalist Parveen Sultana, Anil Srinivasan & Sikkil Gurucharan performing jugalbandi carnatic piano and vocal, Ronu Majumdar on the Hindustani flute and Hindustani vocalist Pandit Jasraj.
Performances in 2010
Yaksha 2010 was held from 30 January to 11 February with the theme "A Celestial Feast of Music and Dance". Yaksha 2010 saw performances from prominent artistes such as Vishwa Mohan Bhatt who performed a Mohan Veena recital on a Hawaiian Guitar using techniques of the sitar, sarod and veena. A violin concert given by three generations of the same family - Dr. N. Rajam, her daughter Sangeetha Shankar and granddaughters Ragini Shankar & Nandini Shankar was featured on February 8. Sudha Ragunathan who was featured on February 6 gave a Carnatic recital despite suffering from a bout of viral fever. Other performances included Aditi Mangaldas and the Drishtikon Dance Foundation troupe's Kathak dance recital, Hariprasad Chaurasia on the flute, Padma Talwalkar and Rajashekhar Mansur performing Hindustani classical music and Charishnu's performance of Kathakali, Odissi and Manipuri dance
Mahashivratri
Yaksha leads into Mahashivratri celebrations on the fourteenth day which feature various performances by artistes running through the night. Performing artistes in 2010 included Dollu Kunitha - folk drums from Karnataka, percussion by Sivamani, Asima by Dev and Tao and a concert by MIDIval Punditz.
Mahashivaratri 2011 featured Sufi singers the Wadali brothers, Prem Joshua and Band and Bickram Ghosh.
