Ramtek, the famous pilgrimage, cum picnic spot of Nagpur, now notorious for its naughty monkeys too, will come alive tomorrow with the Kalidas festival, coming again after a gap of four years.
Every year in this month, the popular Kalidas Festival was celebrated to memorize the great Sanskrit poet Kalidas and his fabulous work in the field of poetry. The two days and nights fun filled musical and dance extravaganza is organized by Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) and Commissioner of Nagpur, in association with Nagpur Municipal Corporation.
But since 2010, for some unknown reason the festival had been discontinued. It is again being revived this year and is slated to have a grand beginning tomorrow.
The Kalidas Festival is organized at Ramtek town in Nagpur district – a place where Rama, Laxman and Sita are said to have ‘rested’ on their way to Vanvaas. Ramtek previously called Ramgiri is also the place whose beauty and tranquility inspired the great poet Kalidas to compose his famous poetry Meghdootam. Sitting in the verdant hills, Kalidas is supposed to have written paeans of love lorn poems for his lady love and asked the clouds to to convey them to her! Hence the name – Meghadoot.
Some of the other popular literary compositions of Kalidas are ‘Abhijnanasakuntalam’, ‘Raghuvamsam’ and ‘Kumarasambhavam’, which contributed in enriching the Indian Literature.
The festival aims to recall the golden period of Vidarbha region. The celebration of Kalidas Festival is a tribute to Kalidas and his eternal contribution to the field of poetry.
The Kalidas festival is packed with stupendous performances of some of the most recognized artists in the field of dance, music and drama, celebrating the rich heritage of the serene Ramtek town. There are also luminous performances by theatre artists to further add enthuses to the festival. Kalidas Festival also endeavors to promote the Vidarbha region and its rich legacy throughout India and world wide.
Started in 1996, the festival had a very successful run and attracted big names from the fields of dance and music till 2010. This year the revived festival will be a four-day event to be held from November 20 to 23 and the focus apartfrom tourism will also be the promotion of the Kuluguru Kalidas Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, Ramtek.
“Vidarbha does not have a very significant presence when it comes to promotion of tourism in Maharashtra. We are using this festival to draw attention to various areas of interests here,” says Anup Kumar, divisional commissioner.
