E-Paper
From Braj for 3 minutes
PANDIT MURARI Lal Sharma?s ?gwale? and ?gopis? play Holi throughout the year and throughout the world. And they get paid for it. These round-the-year Holi revellers from Brij have been building cultural bridges across the world.
PANDIT MURARI Lal Sharma’s ‘gwale’ and ‘gopis’ play Holi throughout the year and throughout the world. And they get paid for it. These round-the-year Holi revellers from Brij have been building cultural bridges across the world.
This troupe of 35 people will bring alive the Braj culture in the Republic Day Function. But, their colourful performance will last only for three minutes.
Pt Murari Lal Sharma says, “We have just returned from our performance in Japan and Russia. We generally perform Charkula, Mayuri, Brij Ki Holi, Radha-Krishna Raas and Lok Geet. From Janmashtami to Holi we travel with our dance-drama to various parts of the world.”
The troupe specialises in Charkula a traditional form of dance which only married women perform. In this dance form the women carry 108 ‘diyaas’ weighing 55 kilograms on their head and perform. This dance form had lost its significance and Pt. Sharma was the one who revived it. He tells, “This dance form was revived by me and my troupe almost 20 years back. And then we took it all over the world. We did all this to keep the ‘lok sanskriti’ alive.”
Come March-April and the troupe, is off to Dubai to perform at the Dubai Festival and before the Taj Mahal Replica. And from Lucknow they will go straight to Magh Mela in Allahabad followed by Surajkund Mela and Taj Mahotsav.
It is quite impressive that the troupe, with their special ‘kala’ has travelled the world, be it Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, Russia, Bhutan, Mauritius, USA or Japan.
Pt Sharma has received the Yash Bharti Award last April. He has also been honoured by the Sanskriti Samman in Delhi. He says, “I passed on this art to around 2100 children at Saifai Mahotsav this year. And it was a fabulous experience. I think it is my duty to pass on this ‘kala’ to the masses.”
The troupe will perform ‘Mayuri’, ‘Brij ki Holi’ and ‘Chakra Nritya’.
