The Megh Malhar Festival 2025, organized jointly by the Department of Art, Culture, and Youth and the Bharatiya Nritya Kala Mandir, was held on Saturday at the Premchand Rangshala. The event commenced with the lighting of the lamp by the director of the department’s cultural affairs directorate, Ruby; the administrative officer of Bharatiya Nritya Kala Mandir, Kahkashan; the co-secretary of Premchand Rangshala, Kriti Alok and Mehmood Alam, the Joint Secretary of the Department of Art, Culture, and Youth. The entire auditorium was filled with divinity and spirituality by the declaration of ‘Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya’. The first performance of the program mesmerized the audience.
Katihar’s young Kathak dancer Rahul Rajak gave a soulful Kathak performance on the Madhurashtakam, directed by Padma Vibhushan Pandit Birju Maharaj and sung in his voice. This composition, depicting the sweetness of Lord Krishna, further enhanced the divinity and grandeur of the festival.
Following this, Rahul brought the Sawan’s Bhadrapadi colors alive with the musical roar of ‘Ghantaghor Badal’. In the final performance, Rahul presented a unique Kathak with the longing of separation on Kajri, giving the audience a vivid experience of the thunder of clouds, the flash of lightning and the dripping of drops.
Ali Khan, a famous singer from Rajasthan, and his group added to the hospitality of Bihar with a traditional welcome song like ‘Padharo Mare Desh’. The tinkling of their voices and the sweetness of the tunes thrilled the audience. Along with this, the group presented Rajasthani folk dances with evergreen songs like Nibuda and Damadam Mast Qalandar, forcing the entire auditorium to dance.
In the final phase of the program, the cultural hues of Bihar also adorned the stage. Chandni Shukla from Purnia and her team mesmerized the audience with their performance. They started with a song composed by the great Maithili poet Vidyapati, after which they showered Bhojpuri and Maithili folk songs, spreading the fragrance of the soil of Bihar. Also, the artists of Bharatiya Nritya Kala Mandir concluded the program in a devotional manner by dancing on the hymns of Harihar and Shri Hari.
