Ratnagiri,

literal meaning

‘Mountain of Gems’,

centrally located

between

Mumbai & Goa,

is a rapidly growing

costal town

in Konkan…

With its unmatched

Natural Beauty…

The sizzling shores…

&

The misty mountains…

With the arrival of Konkan Railway, a few Industries &

the concept of Tourism, there came a gradual change

in the traditional culture..

However, the love, want & thirst of the local people

towards various forms of music & art

was not yet satiated…

Realizing this

penchant of

the society

towards

Indian Classical Music

& Traditional as well as new art forms…

 

Came together a group,

with the objective of

cultivating healthy

cultural environment

in the Ratnagiri District

of Maharashtra

to form in late 2007, 

the “Art Circle, Ratnagiri”

To pursue the objective of promoting proclivity towards

the Indian Classical music & various other art forms,

it was decided to organize a major event in the

last week of January, every year, in the form of a 3 day

“Art & Music Festival”

To enhance the efficacy of the event, the chosen venue

was the historical premises of the Thibaw Palace -

the architectural grandeur completed in 1909

by the British Government, for

the king-in-exile Thibaw Min of Burma

(Myanmar).

The palace has been a notified historical monument

under Archeological Department of Government of India

However, the then condition of this monument had

become a matter of concern…

But tireless & organized efforts created

a spellbound effect on the eve of 25th January 2008,

the first day of the first “Art & Music Festival”

The enthralled effect of the first musical night was followed by an equally spectacular display of a variety

of art forms in the Art gallery inaugurated on 26thJanuary

For the next 2 days the splendor of festival won the hearts of connoisseurs of Ratnagiri.

Every year since then, the art gallery

displaying various forms of arts & related workshops,

have become the attractions of the days;

while the nights become glorious by the concerts of

Indian Classical music by eminent artists in the field…

25 January 2008

Malini Rajurkar

25 January 2008

Ninad Mulaokar & Ojas Adhiya

26 January 2008

Ulhas Bapat

26 January 2008

Manik Paranjape

27 January 2008

Kalapini Komkali

27 January 2008

Prasad Gulavani

22 January 2009

Rakesh Chaurasia & Vijay Ghate

22 January 2009

Rajabhau Shembekar

23 January 2009

Jaytirth Mehundi

23 January 2009

Vijay Ranade & Chaitanya Patwardhan

24 January 2009

Bharat Natyam: Kaninika Ninawe & Purvi Bhave

24 January 2009

Manjiri Asnare-Kelkar

22 January 2010

Sanjeev Abhyankar

23 January 2010

Katthak : Rupali Desai

23 January 2010

Satish Vyas

24 January 2010

Aarati Ankalikar

24 January 2010

Yogesh Katre

Padma Talwalkar

21 January 2011

Kuchipudi : Bijal Haria

22 January 2011

Shahid Parwez

22 January 2011

23 January 2011

Anand Kashikar

23 January 2011

Veena Sahasrabuddhe

27 January 2012

Ronu Muzumdar, Durgaprasad & Arvindkumar Azad

28 January 2012

Katthak : Aditi Bhagwat

28 January 2012

Raghunandan Panashikar

29 January 2012

“Three Generations”N Rajam, Sangita Shankar, Ragini & Nandita Shankar

29 January 2012

Shruti Padhye

Thus the musical nights of the last five years were festooned by the performances of these artists, which

include renowned maestros as well as upcoming artists.

A similar combination of professional & amateur artists displayed their art in the art gallery & special workshops

Now, the Art & Music Festival has become an integral part of cultural activities in Ratnagiri & is regarded as a benchmark in this domain.

The success of the first Art & Music Festival raised theexpectations of the citizens of Ratnagiri.

“Pulotsav” -the festival in the memory of P L Deshpande, the famous Marathi littérateur & performer, seemed to be the obvious choice to fulfill these expectations…

“Pulotsav” includes interviews & performances of Marathi stage, film & light music artists

as well as rare documentaries related to arts. Senior celebrities in the field are also felicitated.

Art Circle initiated the felicitation of organizationsdedicated to social cause - “Samajik Gaurav” in this festival for the first time in Maharashtra.

Pulotsav 6-8 June 2008

Pulotsav 12-14 June 2009

Pulotsav 1-3 October 2010

Pulotsav 4-6 November 2011

The patronage shown by people & their ardent love towards variety of art forms inspired & further motivated to organize other programs as well. Following are a few

samples of what we did in the past.

13 November 2009Centenary Year of Thibaw Palace

26 Jan 2010“Aadipashya”

13 November 2010

A Musical Eve

20 February 2011 “Swaranjali”

16 April 2011

4 May 2011

“Prakashvata”

10 July 2011

Kite Festival15 Jan 2012

23 March 2012

Sambhaji Maharaj Death Anniversary

We hereby appeal to you for generous financial assistance to help us propagate the cultural movement.

Apart from those who actually savor the delight of theevents, we also reach thousands of people across the

district through audio-visual media.

Throughout the publicity campaign we express ourgratitude towards the munificent sponsors .

This includes advertisement of the sponsor on hoardings & banners, in news papers & TV channels (pre-event);

on the souvenir given to the audience & in the announcements (during the event);

& finally in the media news of the event.