The Bhatkhande Memorial Ceremony was held at Sanskar Bharati, where Shri Deshpande was honored with the Bhatkhande Award.

CNN Central News & Network–ITDC India Epress/ITDC News Bhopal: Audiences enjoyed several classical music performances, including the compositions Tere Daras Ki Laalsa Karat Sab in Raag Puriya Dhanashree and Sir Par Dhari Ganga in Raag Shankara. The occasion was the monthly symposium on music organized by Sanskar Bharati, Bhopal Mahanagar Sangeet Vidya, dedicated to the great guru, Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande. The chief guest of the event was Guru Pandit Kiran Deshpande, who is a recipient of the Shikhar Samman and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. He was honored with the Bhatkhande Award by Sanskar Bharati.

The program began with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp, followed by a rendition of the Dhyeya Geet by members of the Swar Gandhar Academy. The first performance was by Atharv Karmalkar, who presented Raag Puriya Dhanashree and Shankara, accompanied by his guru Vinayak Balakrishna Bapat on the tabla, with Prakash Nikalje on the harmonium. Ganesh Gajre of the Kirana Gharana then presented Raag Maru Bihag, accompanied by Ankit Gajre on the tabla and Kishan Singh Parihar on the harmonium.

The event was organized and coordinated by Shekhar Karadkar, Joint Secretary of Sanskar Bharati. It was presided over by Aruna Sharma, with Deepika Purohit handling the event’s operations and support. Several music lovers were present, including All India Campaigner Niranjan Panda, Himmat Goswami, and Chandrakant Prakash Galgale. The program concluded with a vote of thanks by Nirav Pradhan.