nashik the balaji mandir in kapadpeth here organized a weeklong series of cultural events for lord venkateswaras brahmotsav which began on october 14 since its first day the temple hall has become an auditorium where wellknown singers dancers and instrumentalists have been performing this temple was established in 1701 by our ancestor timayya maharaj musical events have been an integral part of any celebration of this temple said present trustee ramesh balajiwale the first day of the festival had a flute performance by milind shewade from mumbai and mohan upasani from nashik the duo captivated the audience with devotional songs as well as classical ragaas nashiks kathak guru rekha nadgauda and her disciples presented two dance events we present innovative concepts at the balaji mandir as our salutation to lord venkatesha who is considered the patron of artists said nadgauda punebased classical vocalist yashasvi sarpotdar presented the raag marubihag on october 18 she also praised the unique in house auditorium of the temple on october 19 a group from pune sang select songs from the 135yearold natya sangeet tradition october 20 had a unique group recitation of tabla anubhuti by 150 students of nitin pawar and nitin ware the entire auditorium was converted into a stage at a group tabla performance and the temple filled with the reverberations of tritaal and zaptal presented by them this unique tradition was started five years ago when we had a 50 tabla performers today the number stands at 150 many of these students have graduated in tabla they still perform at the festival every year said ware on october 21 classical vocalist majiri anasarekelkar and her students presented navarang rajani a fusion of bandish raagas and taranas the brahmostav is also under way at gangapurs balaji mandir run by shankaracharya nyas the temple has an excellent shankaracharya sankul for performances this year the shehnai by jaisinghrao dhumal classical vocal performance by ninad shukla kalyan deshpande and the tabla event by vaishnavi bhadkamkar were most appreciated a dance by kirti bhavalkar and her students was also one of the highlights of the programme brahmotsav brings cultural treat to city chaitanyadeshpandetimesgroupcom nashik brahmotsav of lord venkatesha is otherwise a core religious event but the age old balaji mandir in nashiks kapadpeth has made it a cultural festival by organizing a weeklong series of cultural events every year since october 14 the temple hall has taken a shape of an auditorium where wellknown singers dancers and instrumentalists are giving their performances this temple was established in 1701 by our ancestor timayya maharaj musical events had been an integral part of any celebration of this temple said present trustee ramesh balajiwale the cultural festival in balaji mandir began on october 14 with a flute performance by milind shewade from mumbai and mohan upasani from nashik the duo performed devotional songs as well as the classical ragaas to impress the audiences nashiks kathak guru rekha nadgauda and her disciples presented two kathakbased dance events in the programme