Sangeet Natak Akademi has organized a series of festivals titled Brhaddesi Sangeet Mahotsav in different parts of the country focusing on musical traditions of the respective regions. The first festival in the series was organized in Pune, which brought together select musical traditions of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and Rajasthan. The festival in Chennai presented various performances forms of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. The third event in the series, at Guwahati, focused on traditions of the north-eastern region: Manipur, Assam, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Sikkim.
The fourth event, held at Chandigarh from 27 to 31 October 2002, showcased the musical traditionals of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttranchal, Haryana and Punjab. It was organized with the collaboration of the Directorate of Public Relations, Chandigarh Administration, and the North Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala. It was inaugurated by the excellency Lt. General (Retd.) J.E.R. Jacob, Hon'ble Governor of Punjab, Prof.Atamjeet Singh, Shri Balwant Thakur, Prof. Nand Lal Garg, Shri Kamal Tiwari and Shri Vijay Shankar Choudhury participated in the festival and contributed to its success. Together with performances, the event included a seminar on the music of northern India.

The programme details are as follows:

Festival Programme at Kala Bhavan, Punjab Arts Council, Chandigarh

27 October 2002

Inauguration : Dev Yatra - Procession of Instruments : Baldev Chauhan

Punjab/Jammu & Kashmir

Gurbani : Bhai Avtar Singh Ragi

Sufiana Kalam : Ghulam Mohd. Saznawaz & Mohd. Yaqoob Sheikh

Bhakhan : Krishna Kumari & Pradyumna Singh Chhakri : Gulzar Ganai

Jugni : Gurmeet Bawa

28 October 2002

Jammu & Kashmir

Surnai and Daman : Abdul Aziz Bhat

Buddhist Chants & Monastic Music Rev. Tsering Chosphel

Karkan : Girdhari Lal

Daastan Ismail Meer

Chhinjan : Kishan Singh

Songs of Ladakh Mirup Namgyal & Tsering Dolker

Himachal Pradesh

Naupad (Nagara, Dhol, Shehnai) : Lachhi Ram

Traditional Songs of Chamba & Kangra : Roshan Lal

Bharunwa Songs of Shimla & Mandi & Kullu Region : Jawala Prasad

Tribal Songs and Instruments from Kinnaur Negi

Nati Songs of Mahasu/Sirmaur : Sunita Devi

29 October 2002

Uttaranchal

Hudka Vadan and Ramaola Singing : Harda Surdas

Chanchri & Nyoli Geet : Gokul Singh

Dhol Vadan : Sohan Lal

Beda-Bedi : Shiv Charan and Vachan Dei

Hudka, Daur Thali and Banai : Ramcharan Jual

Rang-Bang : Lok Kala Kendra, Darkot

Veergatha Gayan : Jhusia Damai

Haryana

Nagara : Jhamman Khan with Mamman Khan (Sarangi)

Songs from Swang : Tule Ram

The Song Traditions of Braj Region : Patka Rasia Sibban Singh

The Song of Mewat Region : Asghar Hussain

Shaivaite / (Jangam) Songs : Suraj Bhan

30 October 2002

Punjab

Songs of Dhadi : Bhai Daya Singh Dilbar & Desraj Lackhani

The Songs of Malwa Region (Kawishri) : Master Bheem

Songs of Tumbi and King : Jagatram Laika

Kafi and Heer : Barkat Siddhu

Women's Songs from Punjab : Kulwant Kaur

Sufiana Songs : Puranchand Wadali & Pyarelal Wadali

Semiar 28 - 31 October 2002 at Gandhi Bhavan, Punjab University, Chandigarh

28 October 2002

Welcome Address : Shri Jayant Kastuar, Secretary Sangeet Natak Akademi

Inauguration : Prof. B. N. Goswamy

Keynote Address : Margi-Desi in the Modern context : Prof. K.D. Tripathi

Session I

Chaired by Dr. Ajit Singh Paintal

'An Overview of the Musical Tradition of Punjab' : Dr. Gurnam Singh

'The Tradition of Gurmat Sangeet of Punjab : Physics and Aesthetics' : Dr. Nivedita Singh

Session II

Chaired by Prof. Shafi Shouq

An Overview of the Traditional Music of Jammu & Kashmir : Pandit Bhajan Sopori

An Analysisof the Historical Development and the system of Raga and Tala in Sufiana Kalam: Shri Miraj-ud-din

The Literary Heritage of the Music of Kashmir with Special Reference to Habba Khatoon : Dr. Neerja Mattoo

29 October 2002

Session III

Chaired by Shri Motilal Kemmu

The Special Characteristics of Bhakha and Chinjan : Shri Nilambar Dev Sharma

The Traditonal Music & Monastic Chants of the Ladakh Region : Shri Mipham Otsal

The Musical Tradition of the Gujjar Tribe : Shri Jawed Rahi

Session IV

Chaired by Dr. Sharayu Kalekar

An Overview of the Musical Tradition of Himachal Pradesh : Prof. Nand Lal Garg

The traditional Music of Himachal Pradesh relating to the life Cycle Ceremonies : Dr. Manorama Sharma

The Traditional Musical Instruments of Himachal Pradesh with Special reference to stringed and wind instruments aaaaaaaaa : Dr. Jayaram Sharma

Session V

Chaired by Shri Bhaskar Chandavarkar

The Musical Contents and Format of the Narrative Form of Himachal Pradesh : Shri Jagdish Sharma

An analysis of the Tala System of the Percussion Instruments of Himachal Pradesh : Prof. Nand Lal Garg

30 October 2003

Session VI Chaired by Shri Girish Tiwari

An Overview of the Musical Traditions of Uttaranchal: Dr. Shekhar Pathak

Kumaon Ka Lok Sangeet : Shri Dev Singh Pokharia

The Musical Traditions of the Bhotia (Sauka) : Shri Sher Singh Pangti

The Traditional Msic of Garhwal : Dr. Data Ram Purohit

Session VII

Chaired by Shri Komal Kothari

An Overview of the Musical Traditions of Haryana Region : Shri Puran Chand Sharma

Traditional Song Repertoire of Swang : Shri Kshan Chand Sharma

The Song Tradition of the Braj Area : Shri Sudhir Sharma

The Tradition of Music from the Narrrative Songs and Ballads with Special Reference to the songs of the Jogis : Shri R.K. Bhardwaj

31 October 2003

Session VIII

Chaired by Dr. Shanno Khurana

The Traditional Instrumental Music of Punjab : Bhai Baldev Singh

The Sufi Tradition in the Music of Punjab with Special Reference to Kafi : Shri Kuldeep Kumar

Session IX

Chaired by Smt. Neelam Mansingh

The Heritage of Traditional Music of Women of Punjab (Sanskar Geet) : Dr. Simmi R. Singh

The Folklore Tradition of Punjab with Special Reference to Ballads and Narrative Forms : Shri Kanwaljeet Singh

Concluding Session

An Overview and Summing up : Shri Bhaskar Chandravarkar