Folk Festival 2025 at University of Hyderabad on January 23 and 24

Hyderabad: The Centre for Folk Culture Studies of School of Social Sciences (SSS), University of Hyderabad (UoH), an Institution of Eminence (IoE) in association with the Department of Language & Culture (DLC), Government of Telangana will organise the Folk Fest 2025 in the Centre on January 23 and 24.

On the first day, the inaugural session will be graced by Dr Y A Sudhakar Reddy, retired Professor of the Centre. The day one of the fest will feature an exhibition on Rarh folklore by Dr Md Intaz Ali, Netaji Subhash Open University, which will be inaugurated by Dr P S Kanaka Durga, retired Professor of the Centre and Patachitra workshop by renowned artist Ranjit Chitrakar. A show of Parai and Karagatam performance and paper presentations by assistant professors Dr Justin Selvaraj, Madurai Kamaraj University & Dr Rajasekharan, Central University of Karnataka, will follow.

The post-lunch session will see Keli Ramachandran's documentary on “Chavittu Natakam/Thirai Koothu." A range of folk cultural shows, including Tappatam and Karagatam by performers from Madurai and Bihu dance by Assamese performers will be staged. All the artists of the fest will be felicitated by Dr Mamidi Harikrishna, Director, DLC and Prof Ghanashyam Krishna, Director, IoE, UoH.

The second day morning will have the paper presentations and interactions with scholars, Dr Govinda Varma Raja and Dr Rethi Thampatty (ZGC Kozhikode), Dr Intaj Ali and Prof. Bhim Singh (UoH). Afternoon will host Oggudolu by Dr Oggu Ravi and troupe, Telangana folk songs by Dr Linga Srinivas and troupe, Perani performance by Varkala Vasumathi and team and Malayalam folk songs by Ganga Sauvrav followed by the felicitation to the Artists by Vice Chancellor Prof. B.J. Rao and Prof. Jyotirmaya Sharma, Dean, SSS.

The fest will end with performances of Baul songs by Purnendu Das from West Bengal and has folk songs by Padma Shri Guru Rewben Mashangva from Manipur. The fest will be a great opportunity for all to indulge in and celebrate varied folk performances cut across the regions of our country. The fest aligns with the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the School of Social Sciences, UoH and is funded by the IoE grant. The event will be coordinated by Nijil V Assistant Professor, CFCS.