Uttar Pradesh

• 28 Feb 2022

Charkula and Kathak

Why in News

• Presentations of Charkula and Kathak from Uttar Pradesh were performed recently in the cultural event organized at Purana Quila, Delhi.

Key Points

• The cultural event was inaugurated by the Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Meenakshi Lekhi. The event was organized by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations under the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
• In this, 175 artists from 25 states performed, including Charkula and Kathak from Uttar Pradesh.
• Charkula is a dance performed in the Braj region of Uttar Pradesh. In this dance, women dance to Krishna devotional songs by placing large multi-tiered circular wooden pyramids on their heads.
• Kathak is one of the classical dances of India which is mainly performed in North India. The development of Kathak as a distinct form of dance coincided with the spread of the Bhakti movement in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
• It developed into a major art form under the patronage of Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Awadh. Among its main artists, the name of Birju Maharaj is notable, who has recently died.