Lalit Arpan festival to begin Sep 17

The new edition of Lalit Arpan Festival, which came into being in 2002 with the efforts of Kathak exponent Shovana Narayan and the late Ustad Shafaat Ahmed Khan, will start Sep 17.

It will be held at the Stein Auditorium of India Habitat Centre here, read a statement.

Some of the performers include Shounak Abhisheki (Hindustani vocal) from Pune, Grammy award winner Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (Mohan Veena) from Jaipur and Vidushi Manju Mehta (sitar artist) from Ahmedabad.

One unique feature about the two-day fest has been that Narayan, its main presenter, has consciously chosen not to participate in her own fest.

Since last year, Lalit Arpan Samman has been constituted. This year the Samman will be given to Satish Gujral (painter), Pt Vishwa Mohan Bhatt for Mohan Veena, Krishen Khanna (artist), Vidushi Shobha Koser for Kathak, Vidushi Manjushree Chatterjee for Kathak, Niren Sengupta (artist) and Pt L.K. Pandit for Hindustani Classical Music (vocal).