HORIZONS- Kathak by Shambhavi Vaze

Kathak is one of the eight forms of Indian classical dances, originated from northern India. This dance form traces its origins to the nomadic bards of ancient northern India, known as Kathaks, or storytellers. These bards, performing in village squares and temple courtyards, mostly specialized in recounting mythological and moral tales from the scriptures, and embellished their recitals with hand gestures and facial expressions.

It was quintessential theatre, using instrumental and vocal music along with stylized gestures, to enliven the stories. Its form today contains traces of temple and ritual dances, and the influence of the bhakti movement. From the 16th century onwards it absorbed certain features of Persian dance and Central Asian dance which were imported by the royal courts of the Mughal era. (Source: Wikipedia)

Today I got a chance to witness Kathak in its glory by famous Kathak Dancer Mrs Shambhavi Vaze. She performed as part of a cultural programme held at a conference in IUCAA. Her performance along with her dancing troupe stole the heart of the audiences and kept us mesmerized for around 2 hours. We tried not to blink our eyes as we feared that we would miss a step. Her most brilliant performance was the jugalbandi with the percussionist.

Shambhavi Vaze has had her training in Kathak dance from her mother and renowned Kathak Guru Mrs. Maneesha Sathe.

She has also had extensive training in Laya-Taal and it’s aesthetics from Taalyogi Pandit Suresh Talwalkar. She is trained in Hindustani vocal music by Guru Mrs. Mangala Vaidya.

A recipient of National Scholarship for Dance by Ministry of Human Resources, she has also been honored with Singaar Mani award. As a soloist, she has widely performed in all the major cities and dance festivals of India, and abroad.

For more photos please follow the link below.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mhamu3/KathakShambhaviVaze?feat=directlink

The Lohagad Trek

It was almost six months since the last trek . Everyone at the department was eager on going for an another one. After bit of planning it was decided that the next target will be the Lohagad fort near Lonavala. In all 17 people decided to go for the climb.

We started from Shivajinagar Station (Pune) by the 8:00AM local and reached Malavali station around 9:15.

We started to walk towards Bhaje caves which are on the way to Lohagad. After 20 mins of walking through pleasant country side we reached to the base of Bhaje caves. On the way I was lucky to photograph my first picture of a bird eating its prey.

 

Bhaje Caves: Bhaje Caves situated at Malavali near lonavala, pune district are a group of 18 Buddhist caves of first century BC located at the foothills of Lohgad fort. The Bhaje caves are amongst the oldest monasteries excavated by monks of the Hinayana order carved around 200 BC.

 

Bhaje Caves

After spending some time at the Bhaje caves we proceeded towards our main target, The Lohagad Fort.. The trek to Lohagad to the top is rather simple compared to other forts but because of the sun overhead we were facing difficulty climbing. After several stops and some efforts we reached the top in some 3 hours. Once we were at the top the sun was less harsh so we could move around easily and enjoy the beauty of the surroundings. 

   Visapur fort    

The Lohagad fort: The fort is said to be build by the Satvahana Kings some 2000 years ago.  It is situated at a height of 3400ft and was a very important fort during the times of the great Maratha Kings.     

                  

 Lohagad Fort

                                                         

Once at the top we headed for the "Vinchu Kata" a ridge resembling a Scorpions tail. On the way we saw some peculiar frogs in a pond. These frogs were floating on the water and had lovely colours. 

   

    Vinchu Kata    

It was already 4.30 when we left the fort. We were all very hungry and tired. On reaching the village below we had lunch and then after a brief stay started our descend to Malavali. We had fun time throughout the tri and specially in the train back to pune, where we all entertained our fellow passengers with our melodious voices.

 Express Highway

For more photos please visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/mhamu3/LohagadTrek?feat=directlink