Navodaya students from southern States showcase talent at Kala Utsav

Students from the five South Indian States showcased their talents in instrumental music, vocal music, traditional storytelling, and sculpture art competitions, at Kala Utsav 2025 regional level celebrations, in Ongole on Wednesday. The event was jointly organised by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, and the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti as a part of ‘Viksit Bharat’ programmes.

During the two-day celebrations, Navodaya students from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala captivated the audience with their brilliant acting and extraordinary dance performances in categories such as theatre, classical dance, folk dance (solo, group of four, and group of twelve).

Their presentations reflected the traditions of both South Indian and Hindustani music and dance. The highlight performances include Kasaragod cluster’s shadow play of Kathakali, Hyderabad cluster students’ depiction of Narasimha Avatar, and Thrissur cluster’s Mohiniyattam and Kathakali dance.

In solo performances, Charan from Kurnool impressed with his Bharatanatyam, Padmini from Chamarajanagar won praise for her dance, while Lakshmi Pavani from Vizianagaram and Anjana from Kurnool stood out with their classical dance recitals. In theatre arts, plays on social issues such as drug abuse and its consequences, and ‘Operation Sindoor’ mime left a strong impact.

Ongole MLA Damacharla Janardhan was the chief guest. Speaking on the occasion, he said that along with education, extracurricular activities like sports and arts play a vital role in personality development. He encouraged students to shine not only as scholars, but also as great artists.