Dances, Drumbeats, Songs, Poetry, Speeches, and presentations adorned the celebrations marking 350 years of the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji in London recently. Organised by Sanskruti Centre for Cultural Excellence in association with The Nehru Centre, the vibrant event saw a packed hall of attendees in awe of the exuberance of the content.
A brief film on Shivaji’s achievements and the forts he captured including his Dakshin Digvijay initiative was shown after Deputy Director of TNC Sanjay Sharma rendered opening words. Songs were presented by Prachi Ranade and her team Isha Joshi, Samiksha Deshpande, Sara & Riya Sargalkar, Rugved Kulkarni, accompanied by Amol Koldikar on Tabla & Swati Shejwalkar on the keyboard, and by IDUK team Dr Shivanand Jadhav, Kunal Khairnar, Santosh Parkar & Sahishnu Jadhav.
Ganpati Vandana of Goswami Tulsidas choreographed by Priya Kushwaha was presented by Vishwam Kathak Kendra students Rakshika Choudhry, Tanisha Atri & Bani Nagpal. Rupali Shilankar recited a poem on Shivaji. The dance tributes included those in Kannada presented by Harsha Srinivas, Vyshali Gowda, Sujatha Byrappa & Archana Yalakki, in Malayalam & Tamil by Manju Sunil & Lakshmi Pillai, in Telugu by Vanamala Acha, in Gujarati by Shakti Women’s group Preeti Makharia, Ankita Shah, Alpa Surti, Hina Pancholi & Lata Joshi Shital Jamod.
Sushil Rapatwar dressed as Shivaji Maharaj interestingly highlighted how the festive coronation ceremony was held at Raigad 350 years ago. A historically key account involving the East African migrants to India, Siddis- both in Shivaji’s own & in rival camps was presented by Ragasudha Vinjamuri. This was followed by the playing of African drums by Steven Kasamba and Siddi dance by Preetha Sukesh.
Minister- Coordination at HCI Deepak Choudhary spoke on the occasion elucidating on Shivaji’s principles. Captain Munish Chauhan from British Armed Forces spoke on the contributions of Shivaji towards successfully building naval fleet and army. Kalaripayattu martial art and Urumi was demonstrated by Hrishikesh Kizhikkiyil. The program concluded with Lezhim presented by Aylesbury Telugu Community Sushma Devulapalli, Hema Poloju, Usha Bandalakunta & Mamundeeswari Ganesan. Cllr Nidhi Mehta and Rajanikanth Pasupuleti coordinated Aylesbury presentations.