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Accomodation in Pune
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to budget. Begin your search here.
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Pune Tourism
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enough to keep you occupied, but if you want more, come in to see what your choices
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Pune's Historical Past
Pune has a very rich history and symbols of its glorious past, whether physical or abstract, are spread all over Pune and in its vicinity. Relive the history here.
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Us
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Kasba Ganpati - Established In 1893 Location : 159, Kasba Peth, Pune. |
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Tambdi Jogeshwari - Established In 1893 33, Budhwar Peth, Pune . |
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Guruji Talim - Established In 1887 Ganpati Chowk, Laxmi Road, Pune |
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Tulsibaug - Established In 1901 Location : Tulshi Baug Ram Mandir, Pune. |
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Kesariwada - Established In 1893 Location : 568, Narayanpeth Tilakwada, Pune. |
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| ABOUT PUNE FESTIVAL |
Festival History
Lokmanya Tilak was witness in 1892 where he saw the grand scale on which the Ganesh festival was celebrated in Gwalior and the enthusiastic participation of people therein. This alone inspired him to make the Ganesh festival a public event in Maharashtra. He saw an urgent need to reshape the Indian society based on our own heritage and philosophy. He severely criticised the blind imitation of western ways and said that it amounted to spiritual and moral bankruptcy.
Tilak wished to bring about social change for political reasons too. He was convinced that social change was the key to political awareness. The country was under a foreign rule. It was necessary to arouse the masses to oppose the tyrannical British Rule. It was necessary to stir the masses and mobilise public opinion for national ends. To achieve the desired result it was necessary to awaken the masses and what else would be fit than the already popular Ganesh festival?
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Organising Committee
Organizing Committee - Led by Chairman of the Pune Festival Committee Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, M.P., a stellar cast of organizers have come together to bring you the latest edition of the Pune Festival.
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Grand Inaugural of Pune Festival on September 05, 2008
A harmonious fusion
of music, dance and melody will showcase the Pune Festival which is entering
in its 20th year in a row. This year’s inauguration ceremony
will take place on the Sept 5, 2008, at 4 p.m. at Ganesh Kala Krida Rang
Manch. Shri. Ashok Chavan, Minister for Industry & Culture will inaugurate
the Festival. Shri. Patangrao Kadam, Maharashtra Minister for Industry,
Shri. Harshvardhan Patil, Minister for E.G.S. & Marketing & Shri.
Ulhas Pawar Chairman, Rest of Maharashtra Development Statutory Board will
be Guest of Honour. Mrs. Rajlaxmi Bhosale, Hon’ble Mayor of Pune, Shri.
Jayant Gaikwad, MTDC MD & Dr. Deepak Tilak, Trustee – Kesari Maratha
Trust will be Esteemed Guests. The function will be graced by Ambassadors
& Council Generals of various countries and cine stars which will be
beam live on the Doordarshan.
Hon’ble Governor of
Himachal Pradesh Smt. Prabha Rao will preside over the concluding function
of the Pune Festival at Ganesh Kala Kirda Rangmanch on Sept. 10th.
Pune Festival is organised jointly
by - Pune Festival committee, Pune citizens, Tourism department - Government
of India and Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation.
The Title Sponsorer of Pune Festival
2008 is Idea Cellular ltd. and Dodsal Ltd is co- sponsor.
The Ganesh idol of the festival
will be installed at the Hotel Saras, Nehru Stadium, on Sept 3, at 10.00
am.
The inaugural ceremony is marked
by special awards to eminent personalities from different fields. Named
as the ‘Pune Festival’ award, these are given away on the basis of their
outstanding work done by the distinguished personalities from the society.
This year’s recipients will be noted film actor Nilu Phule, Wrestler of
former Olympian and Rustum – E- Hind title holder Harishchandra Birajdar
& Saina Nehwal ,Quarter Finalist in Badminton in Bejiing Olympic 2008.
Like every year, this year’s
inaugural ceremony is going to be a spectacular affair. Shehnai recital
by Daithankar and group, Ganesh Vandana by renowned danseuse Yogini Gandhi
and singer Devaki Pandit, ‘Ganesh parampara’ - a unique presentation on
journey of Ganesh Utsav from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Era - Peshwai -
Lokamanya Tilak period and the present day Pune Festival, by 100 artists
troupe coordinated by Sunil Mahajan, traditional ganapati aarati, The ‘Colours
of India’ – a dance show choreographed by Nikita Moghe and presented by
Sharwari Jamenis, Sonali Kulkarni, Aditi Bhagwat, Pushkar Jog, Subhodh Bhave,
Manasi Pilankar, Abhyang Kuvalekar, Saksham Kulkarni.,, A medley fusion
programme by Malaika Arora and associates, and ‘Jai Hind’ – AV by Durga
Jasraj, Art & Artist Perfumed by various renowned vocalists - These
are a few highlights of the inaugural ceremony.
Amrita Thapar, Ex Miss India
and Sudhir Gadgil will compare the show.
The programmes at the Ganesh Kala Krida
Manch are going to be a unique confluence of dance and music. Taalchitra
(Vibjyor) is a presentation by different musicians and dancers including
Rahul Chaurasia (flute), Ranjit Barot (percussion), Shaunaq Abhisheki (vocal),
Pandit Vijay Ghate (Tabla), Shridhar Parthasarthi (mridangam), Atul Raninga
(Key board).
“Taalchitra” will be followed
by ‘Piya Bawari’ – a musical jugalbandi by vocalist Pandit Ajay Pohankar
and his son Abhijit Pohankar.
Actor- danseuse Hema Malini always
performs her debut Ballet at Pune Festival. This year she will present ‘Rukmini
Parinay” ballet with her troups. In 20 years she has performed about 14
Ballet and Ganesh Vandana in Pune Festival. She is Patron of Pune Festival
too.
The very famous show that has
caught Maharshtra’s fancy, ‘Marathi Bana’, presented by Producer – Director
Ashok Hande, is included in this year’s Pune Festival. Popular singer Daler
Mehendi and his group will keep the audience riveted by their permanence
A Hindi Haasya Kavi Sammelan
will be presented by senior poet Subhash Kabra this year. Poets like Pravin
Chaube (Gwalior), Dr. Virendra (Pune), Navneet (Mumbai), Mahesh Dubey (Benares),
Vinoo Mahendra (Mumbai), Prakash Paplu (Mumbai), Rajendra Malaviya (Itarasi),
Krishna sharma (Akola) will participate in this event. .
The Malayali Federation, Pune
will organize a Kerala Mahostav at the Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir. A photography
exhibition by Santosh Potdar on the nineteen year history of Pune Festival
will also be part of the Festival.
Other interesting cultural items
like a ballet by senior danseuse Shovana Narayan and her troupe, famous
dancer Dr. Ilyana Citaristi’s Odissi recital, prominent dancer Soniya Parchure’s
Katthak, Odissi dance by Ramindra Khurana & Indradhanu etc. are the
major attractions at Balgandharv.
The current theatre sensation,
marathi drama ‘Ae Bhau Doka Nako Khau’, directed by Sanjay Pawar and scripted
by Abhay Paranjape will also be performed in the Festival. Atul Parchure,
is in the lead role in this drama.
Balgandharva Rang Mandir will
also host special Marathi programmes like a Hasya Kavi sammelan, a one act
comidies plays, hasya bhushan competitions.
Ramdas Phutane will present the
famous Marathi show “Hasyadhara”, the humorous poetic meet. Noted poets
like F.M. Shinde, Prakash More, Prakash Pathare, Suresh shinde, Prakash
Ghadge, Sahebrao Khandge, Tukaram Dhande, Vijay Avhad, Anuradha Nerurkar,
Bhagwan Deshmukh will participate in the programme.
Pune Festival felicitates the significant
contribution of a Marathi poet every year with an award. This year’s the
award will be presented to senior poet Ashok Naygaonkar
The Hasayadan Foundation has orgainsed
‘Hasyotsav Ekpatrincha’ a special programme. Makrand Tillu, Banda Joshi,
Dilip Halyal, Santosh Chordiya, Swati Suranglikar, Mahesh Ganpule are some
of the professional mono act performers who will perform in the programme.
Like last year, there is going to be a ‘Hasyabhushan’ competition organized
by the mono act actor’s association. City’s prominent mono act artists will
take part in this.
Sant Tukaram’s 400th birth centenary celebrations are also to
be observed at the Pune Festival. “Tuka Zalase Kalas”, a special programme
is organized. A programme live with wari, palakhi, is to be presented by
Narendra Chiplunkar and associates. “Best Of Indradhanu”, a programme with
last year’s and current year’s winners of the Indradhanu competition will
be presented comprising of upcoming local artists.
In Saptarang – Classical vocal
by Hemang Mehta along with “All Ballet ” presented by Anu Sinha & Troupe.
Senior flautist Pandit Arvind Gajendragadkar’s Flute recital, Pandit Rajshekhar
Mansur’s disciple Priyadarshini Kulkarni (Classical Vocal) etc. The programme
will be held at the Yashwantrao Chavan Natyagriha. “Sau Saravana Thase”,
a Gujarati play show will also be presented. ‘Maharashtrache lene”, by Satara’s
famous renowned artist Vaishali Raje – Dhadge will showcase the folk tradition
of Mahrashtra. A lavani programme, “Natkhat Apsara”, will be conducted at
the Ganesh Kala Krida Manch.
The special show “Jinkuya Dahi
Disha” by Om Natyagandh, Mumbai will present the drama focusing the vision
of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Phule, Savitribai Phule, Dr.Ambedkar
& Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj and will be presented at Yashwantrao Chavan
Natyagriha. A Drama named “Makdache Lagna” & Geetanjali – Marathi Sugam
Sangeet presented by Dr. Narendra Chiplunkar will also held at Yashwantrao
Chavan Natyagriha.
Best of Indradhanu “ Tuka Zala
Se Kalas” & Geetanjali Marathi Sugam Sangeet - All This Programmes are
design and produce by Pune Festival.
Like every year, women’s special
programmes (Mahila Mohatsav) comprising recipe contests, hair styles, flower
decoration and salad decoration will be held. “Mrs. Pune Festival Queen”,
a contest based on personality judgements is a special attraction here.
The recipe competition will be held at the Apte Sabhagriha and the rest
will be at the Balgandharva Art Gallery.
A vintage car rally as per every
year will be held this year too. This will showcase cars and motorcycles
in the past 100 years as also the modern ones prevalent in the 21st
century.
A Pune Festival golf cup will
be held at the Yerwada Golf Club which will see participation from the ambassadors
of various countries. CEOs and top brass of different companies. A Kayaking
competition is also scheduled to take place at B.E.G. Course. Roll Ball
Competition will be held at Kothrud organised by Maharashtra State Roll
Ball Association.
A special decoration competition
for the various Ganapati Mandals & Co-Operatives Societies Ganpati Mandals
has been organised on different themes & offering the total prize money
of Rs. 2,00,000.
Associate sponsors for
Pune Festival are Bank Of Maharashtra, Reliance Industries Ltd. Raymond,
Suzlon Energy Ltd., Standard Chartered Bank, National Eggs Co-Ordination
Committee, Kirolskar Group, Tata Group, Bharti Vidyapeeth.
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Pune Festival's Glorious 20 Years .... A look back
- In 1989, The Chairman of Maharashtra tourism
development corporation, Suresh Kalmadi, M.P, took a major decision to
organize a large scale cultural festival in Pune to promote tourist and
to boost the local artist.
- The festival commenced with a huge canopy
erected at the Nehru Stadium in the first year.
- This is one of the most prominent cultural
shows of the country which is continuously being presented for the last
twenty years that goes on for 10 Days.
- The Ganesh Idol for Pune Festival is installed
amidst rituals at hotel Saras, Nehru stadium.
- Initially as the festival started, prime
programmes were held in the open at the Nehru stadium as also at Balgandharva
Rang Mandir, Ramchandra Sabhamandap, Tilak smarak Mandir etc.
- To Meet the growing cultural necessity of
the City the PMC has built Ganesh Kalakrida Manch, the Pune Festival programmes
started being conducted there.
- The festival that displays various cultural
and sports items has successfully been in vogue for the last twenty years.
Instrumental and vocal music, dance and various sporting events are part
of the festival. Artists of national and international fame from India
and abroad, folk artists, Urdu Mushaira, Marathi and Hindi poetic meet,
folk theatre, recipe contests, lavani performances, mimicry, flower decoration,
magic shows, various talent shows, Ganesh Moorti decoration competition,
clean slum contest, one act play competition, women's games in traditional
festivals, women's meets, theatre shows in regional languages like
Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati, Sindhi and English, Marathi songs, Gujarati
dayaro, Kerala festival, Maharasthtra folk festival, Ganesh picture exhibition,
vintage car rally, water sports, body building, motocross, Ashtavinayak
rally, skating contest, cycling race, golf competition, trekking, malakhamb,
yoga, bull cart competition, gavjatra, talent hunt shows for budding artists
in Pune and shows by established artists, Indradhanu - mega showcase of
events, felicitations for the renowned, tourism related discussions, and
workshops, are all various popular events at the Pune Festival.
- Artists - Pt. Bhimsen joshi,
Pt. Ravishankar, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ustad
Bismilla khan, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Asha Bhosale, Hema Malini, Meenakshi
Sheshadri, Jagjit Singh, Anup Jalota, Kishori Amonkar, Anuradha Paudwal,
Balmurali Krishna, Remo Fernandes, Gurdas Maan, Udit Narayan, Kumar Saanu,
Usha Uthup ,Pankaj Udhas, Hariharan, Louis Banks, Shubha Mudgal, Nitin
Mukesh, Prtaibha Pralhad, Shovana Narayan, Ranjana Gouhar, Bharti Shivaji,
Pt Bhavani shankar, Ustad Safad amjad Khan, Pt Rajan-Sajan Mishra, Alka
Yagnik, Pt Satish Vyas, Shiamak Davar, Taufiq Quereshi, U Shrinivasan,
Ustad Rashid Khan, Silva Ganesh, Pt. Vijay Ghate, Jatin Lalit, Peenaz
Masani, Ananda Shankar, Vishwa Mohan Bhat, Pamela singh, Surekha Punekar,
Apsara Jalgaonkar, Rohini Bhate, Sucheta Bhide-Chaphekar, Shreedhar Phadke,
Arun Date, Shreya Ghosal, etc all artists added to the grandeur of Pune
Festival.
- The participation of some famous and
cine artists - Dilip Kumar, R. K. Laxman, M. F. Husain, Majrooh
Sultanpuri, Javed Akhtar, Ali sardar Jafri, Shashi Kapoor, Dharmendra,
Vinod Khanna, Kaifi Azmi, Madhuri dixit, Subhash Ghai, Yukta Mookhey,
Ritu Beri, Dr. Jabbar Patel, Babasaheb Purandare, Pooja Bhatt, Amisha
Patel, Pooja Batra, Aditya Pancholi, Shakti Kapoor, Govinda, Anupam Kher,
Shekahr Suman, Bindu, Fardeen Khan, Aditi Gowitrikar, Amrita Patel, Ronit
Roy, Sudha Chandran, Rani Mukherji, Manisha Koirala, Makrand Anaspure,
Adesh Bandekar, Prashant Damle, Varsha Usgaonkar, Shreya Ghosal.
- Inaugurations by - Dr. Shankar
Dayal Sharma, K.R. Narayanan, Bhairav Sing Shekhawat, Soniya Gandhi, Sharad
Pawar, Madhav Rao Scindia, Shivraj Patil, Ghulam Nabi Azad, K. P.Singhdeo,
Vilas Rao Deshmukh, Ramkrishna Hegde, Manohar Joshi, Dr. P.C. Alexander,
Gopinath Munde, Sudhakar Naik, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Renuka
Chaudhary, Ambika Soni, Sushil Kumar Shinde.
- Industrialists present - Shantanu
Rao Kirloskar, Rahul Kumar Bajaj, Neelkanth Kalyani, Vivek Goenka, K.
L. Chugh, Vijay Mallya (MP), Nita Ambani.
- Felicitations to - Kavi Pradeep,
Dilip Kumar,Yoga Acharya Iyengar, Vin. Da Karandikar, Shantanu Rao Kirloskar,
Lavani Samradni Yamuna Bai Waikar, Kavi Mangesh Padgaokar, Kavi Na. Dho.
Mahanor, Dr. Vijay Bhatkar, Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar, Dr Jabbar Patel,
Nana Chudasma, Ritu Beri, Ramdas Phutane, Dr. H. V. Sardesai, Nita Ambani,
R.K. Lakshman, Shobha Dey, Krishnakant Kudale, Pradeep Bhide, Shovana
Narayan, Surendra Chavan, Kamalakar Sontakke.
- Felicitations of Marathi poets -
Shanta Shelke, Narayan Surve, F.M. Shinde, Vin. Da. Karandikar, Vasant
Bapat, Narayan Suman.
- Centenary Ganeshutsav Mandals -
Pune's Ganeshutsav Mandals in their 100th year are felicitated at
the Pune Festival Inauguration ceremony.
- Mother of all festivals -
The long running, hugely successful and continuously on going Pune Festival
is called as the Mother of All Festivals. Inspired by this, many other
festivals started on local basis - Pimpri chinchawad, Phaltan, Karveer,
A.Nagar.
- Pune Festival is jointly organized by the
Pune Festival Committee, Maharashtra State Tourism Development Corporation,
Tourism Department Govt.of India and the Pune Citizens.
- Pune Festival had display rallies from all
the states of India. In these rallies, the different cultures of the states
were showcased.
- ,On the same platform where Ganapati is
worshipped in Pune festival, Urdu Shayars belonging to other communities
present mushairas. This shows spirit of integration.
- The continuous and constant participation
of renowned artist Hema Malini year after year in Pune Festival needs
a special mention. Hema Malini is a patron of Pune Festival and has presented
about 14 Ganesh Vandanas and ballets in the twenty year history of the
festival. She always present her first ballet shows in Pune Festival.
- The offspring of renowned musicians and
dancers get a special exposure at the festival. The daughters of Hema
Malini, Isha and Aahana, Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma's son Rahul shivkumar,
Sarod Maestro Amjad Ali Khan's sons Aman and Ayaan, Pt Bhimsen's
Joshi's son Srinivas Joshi are all the younger generation of artists
that add to the glory of the festival.
- Pune festival was a launching pad for a
plethora of budding artists and many such new artists started shining
on the national scale and on TV channels after their launch here. For
instance - Pt Sanjeev Abhayankar, Shaunak Abhisheki, Sharwari Jamenis,
Bela Shende, Tejashri Adige, Shefali Lahoti, Nikita Moghe etc are all
gifts of the festival.
- Pune Festival has special sections for age
groups 7-15 , Ugawate Taare- (budding stars) and Indradhanu for age group
16- 25. Bharatnatyam, Katthak, Kuchhipudi, Odissi, Western Dance etc are
performed. Classical music, Cine music, light music, devotional songs,
natyasangeet, powade, folk music one act plays etc are performed by these
budding artists. In a way, this is a talent search programme.
- The programme giving scope to women's
talents and providing a platform for thousands of enthusiastic women -
the Pune Festival has been adding to the self confidence of participating
women.
- Festival Queen, a personality pageant, recipe
contest, rangoli, toran, mehendi, aarti thali, naivedya thali, gift wrapping,
mangalagauri games etc contests as also debates and seminars on burning
issues are major attractions at the Mahila Mahotsav.
- The vinatge car rally at the Pune Festival
is also very famous. Motorcycles and cars from the last 100 years and
ultramodern vehicles participate in the rally. Rolls Royce, Hansa, Adler,
Jaguar, AJS, BSA, Norton, Trumph, etc rare vehicles are seen rallying
here. Ultra modern vehicles like Mrecedes, Lambourghini, BMW, Honda, Kawasaki,
Yamaha, Suzuki, etc modern vehicles are a treat for the eyes.
- Pune Festival has a presentation on regional
theatre like Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Sindhi etc. A special Kerala Mahotsav
is also held.
- A humorous Kavi sammelan as an ode to late
litterauteur Pu. La. Deshpande and poetess Shanta Shelke, Marathi dramas,
Marathi Hasyabhushan contest, the three winning entries from drama contest
Purushottam Karandak, State level One act plays, lavani Mahotsav, Marathi
bhavgeet and film music shows, natyageet, a special programme on the 75
years of Prabhat Cinema, Geet Ramayan in its golden jubilee etc are special
musical shows at the Pune Festival.
- The felicitations of marathi poets is an
overwhelming affair.
- Every year, many foreign envoys based in
India and other commerce representatives attend Pune Festival. They take
part in the prestigious golf contest. Many foreign tourists and travel
writers attend the festival.
- Pune Festival can be deemed as a school
in event management.
- Last twenty years, the inaugural ceremony
of this festival is relayed live from Doordarshan.
- There are generous prizes for Ganeshutsav
mandals and housing societies on behalf of the Pune Festival. Special
contests are organized.
- All these programmes are held without any
entry fees at Pune Festival.
- For drought or flood, the Pune Festival
relief fund is always there to fund a crisis situation.
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For Latest Details, Passes, & Schedule Please Contact Pune Festival Organizing Committee at
Pune Festival Committee:
Hotel Pathik
Jangli Maharaj Road
Pune, Maharashtra 411 004
INDIA
Tel: 91-20-244 64141, 244 64747, 2553 2085
Fax: 91-20-244 68788
Email: punefestival@vsnl.com
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