Hyderabad: Union Minister G Kishan Reddy has written a letter to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao requesting him to identify and allot suitable land of 10 acres in the heart of Hyderabad city for setting up a Regional Centre of Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA).
Reddy in his letter, on March 9, said that the SNA which is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Culture would develop this into a “state-of-the-art Regional centre and a leading cultural space that would foster the cultural growth and performative milieu of the state.”
The letter also said that the availability of infrastructure such as pre-existing structures and buildings will expedite the Ministry of Culture and SNA’s efforts in commencing the Centre at the earliest.
The Union Minister in his letter stated, “The Sangeet Natak Akademi currently has no presence in Telangana or Andhra and the centre is envisaged for the promotion of research and documentation of music, folk and tribal arts, theatre and puppetry as all other regional centres of SNA cater to dance forms.”
Infrastructural requirements of the centre would include a library, documentation centre and an auditorium for performing art including multifunctional space beside the office space, the letter reads.
The Minister reminded the CM of Telangana’s rich and diverse intangible cultural heritage that includes dance forms such as Perini Sivatandavam that have been patronised by the Kakatiya dynasty and traditional forms of story-telling such as Golla Suddulu, Oggu Kathalu, Gotralu and Chindu Bhagavatam.
“Telangana’s large tribal population also give us the opportunity to showcase unique dance forms such as Gusadi, Lambadi, Mayuri and Dhimsa. Apart from this, Telangana is also a bridge between northern and southern India as a home to several elements of syncretic Intangible Cultural Heritage”, the Union Minister added.
Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA), an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Culture and an apex body in the field of performing arts in the country has the mandate to preserve and promote India’s vast Intangible Cultural Heritage of diverse culture expressed in the forms of music, dance and drama.
The Sangeet Natak Akademi now has two constituent units, the Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy (JNMDA) at Imphal, and Kathak Kendra in Delhi. Besides the constituent units, the Akademi presently has five centres: Kutiyattam Kendra, Thiruvananthapuram for preserving and promoting the age-old Sanskrit theatre of Kerala, Sattriya Kendra, Guwahati for promoting the Sattriya traditions of Assam.
North-East Centre, Guwahati for preserving the traditional and folk performing art traditions of north-eastern India. North-East Documentation Centre, Agartala for festival and field documentation in the northeast. Chhau Kendra, Chandankiyari for promoting the Chhau Dances of eastern India.
