Kumar Performing Arts Centre, Mysuru, has been successfully organizing the International Nirantara Kalemane festival at its own Sabhagriha, every month for the past three years. The festival has completed 49 editions of the festival and conducted the 50^th Golden Jubilee celebrations on the 11^th and 12th January 2025.

Besides the performances by several performers, the highlight of the festival was the distribution of the prestigious Kalemane Kalashree award to twelve distinguished personalities in the field of performing arts, literature and education.

The first day the festival by inaugurated by Someshwaranath Swamiji, secretary of Adichunchanagiri Math, Mysore and the second day was inaugurated by K Harish Gowda, MLA of Chamaraja constituency, Mysore. The special guests of the festival were Anshi Prasanna Kumar, editor of Kannada Prabha newspaper and K.V.Chethan, chief secretary Congress Mysuru.

The recipients of Kalashree awards were Ka Tha Chikkanna for Literature, Gollahalli Shivaprasad for folklore arts, Guru Planiyappan Pillai and Guru Satynarayana Raju for classical dance, Prof S, Mallanna for Sugam Sangeet, Guru Manjula Vishwanath and Guru Shraddha Shivaprakash for classical dance, Dr C.S.Dwarakanath for social service and journalism, Dr T Amarnath for medicine, Ranganath for journalism, Guru Sanjay Shantaram for classical dance and Parswanath Upadyaya for classical dance. Besides the dance performance by the students of Kumar Performing Arts Centre, all the dancer teachers who were felicitated, also performed along with their disciples.

Prof Kumar Kariappa, the founder director of Kumar Performing Arts Centre is a veteran Bharata Natyam exponent, mentor, choreographer and musicians with several performances to his credit on the international scenario for more than four decades. Kumar Performing Arts Centre has been established with the main intention of promoting and propagating classical arts and to encourage young performers by providing them a platform. With hardly any corporate support, the Centre has been regularly organising festivals which is really noteworthy and praiseworthy.

By Guru Vijay Shankar