Events of the month

Kartik Poornima
A deeply mystical religious festival, Kartik Poornima is celebrated at the time of the full moon in the auspicious Hindu month `Kartik' (November). It represents the propitious night of Kartik, not only because the moon is at its fullest and most beautiful, but also for religious and mythological reasons. During this time of the year there is just a hint of winter, and on this night the moon is at its brightest. This year Kartik Poornima fell on November 5th. Mythologically, Kartik Poornima is the only day of the year when Lord Brahma, the creator of the Universe is worshipped. As legend goes, Lord Brahma wished to perform a 'Yagna' or fire sacrifice on earth and therefore selected a hill on which he would perform. Here he followed his penance for 1000 years prior to performing the 'Yagna'. From the sky he then dropped a lotus flower, which is said to have created the holy lake of Pushkar (which itself means lotus). Pushkar was where Lord Brahma performed "Yagna". The Brahma temple at Pushkar is considered the most sacred amongst the very few Brahma temples in India. Just before Brahma was set to commence the sacrifice, his eldest wife, Savitri was nowhere to be seen, so he impatiently began the 'Yagna' with his younger wife, Gayatri. When Savitri learnt of this she was outraged and cursed Brahma, stating that, henceforth he would only be worshipped on one particular day of the year - Kartik Poornima. It is also believed that on this day Lord Shiva with the help of Lord Brahma and Vishnu destroyed the perfidious demon Tripur.

HRH Group of Hotels, Udaipur sponsored this years Kartik Poornima festival. Guests experienced the hospitality of the HRH Group at a special theme-dinner at the Kunwarpada lawns on the island-palace of Jagmandir. The celebrations also included a special exhibition by Aashka, a souvenir and lifestyle boutique, at the Darikhana in Jagmandir. Aashka, an initiative of Princess Bhargavi Kumari Mewar, exhibits an assortment of arts and crafts reflecting the rich traditions of Mewar. The evening's entertainment at Jagmandir, the graceful island-palace on Lake Pichola, started with a moving performance of a Sufi Kathak dance by Manjari Chaturvedi. The dance recital was followed by fireworks that lit up the

Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar of Udaipur Lighting the lamp

night sky. Manjari Chaturvedi is perhaps India's only Sufi Kathak performing artiste and a leading exponent of this classical dance Kathak. In her performance, she combined the mysticism of Sufi traditions with her classical training. She incorporated the finest traditions of Sufi music of Rajasthan, Kashmir, the qawwalis of Avadh and the poetry of Bulleh Shah of Punjab as well as the music of Iran. Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar of Udaipur, Chairman and Managing Trustee of The Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation (MMCF) chief guest at the Kartik Purnima festival felicitated the performing artistes. He said, “Ms. Chaturvedi's Sufi Kathak performance reinforced the ideal of eternal brotherhood and love that goes beyond geographical boundaries.” He lauded the artiste and her team of musicians and qawwals whose full-throated vocals

Ms. Manjari Chaturvedi - A pioneer of the dance form of Sufi Kathak