Gurugram Kala Utsav was started in 2017 to celebrate the Indian classical art forms. In its third year now, the annual festival is a cultural amalgam of classical Indian dance forms, such as kathak, bharatnatyam, kuchipudi and odissi, folk music, and Hindustani vocal and instrumental renditions.
Incidentally the festival falls on the same weekend as the popular Gurgaon Utsav, a festival that brings Sufi and fusion music, poetry and dramatic performances to city audiences.
The festival will take place at the Aravalli Biodiversity Park.
The two-day fest is being organised by an Odissi dance academy, and a not-for-profit organisation and supported by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram.
Thakurani Jatra Festival
Preparations for the famous biennial Thakurani Jatra festival in Odisha's Berhampur began with the hoisting of the holy mast or 'shubha khunti'.
According to Desibehera P. Durgaprasad, the traditional head of this festival, the celebrations will start from March 29 and continue for 32 days.
Goddess Budhi Thakurani is the traditional deity of silk handloom weavers or the Dera community of Berhampur.
On the night of March 29, an earthen pot representing the deity would be carried in a procession from the permanent temple to her temporary abode at Desibehera Street.