Kalakshetra under the aegis of The Ministry of Culture, Government of India, are conducting a two-day, monthly dance festival titled Kala Mela. Designed as a monthly festival, it would showcase one production of Kalakshetra and an Indian classical dance form from other parts of India.

The first of these offerings was made on 19^th and 20^th July 2025.

On the first day, a kathak performance was presented by Kathak Kendra, New Delhi, titled Nritya varsha. The troupe was led by Abhimanyu Lal. Along with his students he presented a captivating performance of classic kathak. The troupe did three pieces - Mahadev, Basant Bahar, and Tarana. In addition to these pieces there was a solo performance by Abhimanyu Lal which was the true highlight of the evening. Lal showed us the variations that were possible in the teen-taal patterns as well as explained the relationship between the percussion and the dancing feet. He also stressed the importance of the pakhwaj as a part of the orchestra and demonstrated how the instrument was a ‘male’ instrument whereas the table the ‘female’.

The next day, Rukmini Kalyanam was staged by the Kalakshetra Foundation. A well-known choreography of Rukmini Devi, first performed in 1964, it is one of the gems from the Kalakshetra repertoire and has been performed many times over the years with various artists donning the roles. The music for this was composed by Thuraiyur Rajagopala Sarma. The story of the wedding of Rukmini with Lord Krishna, was brought to life by the wonderful dancers of Kalakshetra. Girish Madhu as King Bheeshmaka and Sridevi Jayakrishnan and his queen, Jayakrishnan as Rukmi, Malavika as Rukmini, Kailashanathan as Sri Krishna,  K P Rakesh as the brahmin, and Suryanarayana Murthy as the fortune teller delivered a riveting performance.