It's busy time for artists in Gwalior ahead of Khajuraho Festival

Gwalior, Jan.31 (ANI): Ahead of renowned Khajuraho Festival, a number of sculptors are attending an ongoing statue making camp here. Organised by Allauddin Khan Music and Dance Academy, the camp has drawn various artists from different parts of the world. "The main aim of the statue making camp is that, the statues are carved showing the poses of different traditional dances. These statues are being made for the Khajuraho Festival, which will start from February 23 and will last till March 3 in Khajuraho. It is organised every year. Traditional artists are invited to make these statues," said Anil Kumar, an organiser of the camp. This year the focus in the Khajuraho Festival will be on creating sculptures on various forms of traditional dances like Bharatnatayam and Odissi. Artists from all over the country have come to attend the camp, Anil added. "I belong to Tripura. I am making a statue on Odissi dance. I have the photograph and I am making it accordingly," said Pandit Kalappa, a sculptor. "I am making a pose of a Mohiniatam dance. My forefathers have done this work. I have not taken any teaching for it. My forefathers use to work for kings. Nobody has taught me this work," said Ram Vishwakarma, another sculptor.

The week-long Khajuraho Festival is held near the world famous Khajuraho Temples. People from all walks of life come to watch eminent artists perform under theses ancient temples. The temples were built during the Chandela era. The 9th to 12th century temples of Khajuraho is evidence of the architectural geniuses that lived during the Chandela era. Situated in Madhya Pradesh, Khajuraho oozes with passion, eroticism, dance and music. The 85 temples were built in North Indian 'Nagara' style of architecture, though only 20 of them have survived the ravages of time. The two richer distinctive groups of temples are the Western and Eastern group of temples. Khajuraho Festival of Dances is organised by the Madhya Pradesh Kala Parishad. It draws the best classical dancers in the country every year, who perform against the spectacular backdrop of the floodlit temples. The festival showcases various classical styles of Indian dance such as Kathak, Bharat Natyam, Odissi, Kuchipudi, Manipuri and Kathakali. Modern Indian dance is a recent addition.Every evening, two accomplished artists from different genres perform in the open-air auditorium. (ANI)