The Uttar Pradesh Government has started preparations for hosting the G-20 summit meetings spread out in four cities in a big way. On the instructions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, special arrangements are being made to introduce the state’s culture and heritage to delegations arriving from different countries, officials said here on Saturday.

The state Tourism Department has developed a programme to present the state’s dance forms, classical music, and other traditional entertainment to G-20 guests. According to this, veteran artistes of the state would enthrall visitors from abroad with their works.

The G-20 visitors will land in the state in February and stay for a combined five days in February and August. They will also visit a number of the cities’ well-known locations during this period.

During the first two days of the foreign visitors’ stay in Agra, cultural events will be held with Lucknow-based artiste Alka Thakur greeting tourists by playing a ‘jugalbandi’ of sarangi and flute.

On the second day, Mathura’s Sanjay Sharma will present Braj’s traditional peacock dance, Gitanjali Sharma will present Kathak based on Radha Madhav and Vandana Shri will perform Folk dance and Krishna Radha Raas.

In August, on the first day, a live jugalbandi of flute, tabla, and santoor will be presented by Bhatkhande Sanskrit University. The second day will feature performances of Krishna Raas Leela by Mathura’s Vinay Krishna Goswami and Namami Ramam by Lucknow’s Kathak Kendra.

On the third day, Mumbai-based Neeraj Arya’s Kabir Cafe will perform a live concert while Manoj Kumar Mishra of Lucknow will showcase Taal Vadya, and Mohini of Lalitpur will perform traditional folk dance.

During the three-day stay in Lucknow, the city of Nawabs, on the first day, Sheikh Ibrahim of Lucknow will perform a live jugalbandi of the flute, tabla, and santoor, while performers from Kathak Kendra will present a semi-classical dance.

The attendees would be mesmerised by Prayagraj’s Anand Kishore Awadh’s Dandiya dance on the second day. The Awadhi traditional song Holi Khele Raghuveera will be performed by Padmashree Malini Awasthi. The Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Academy will perform a Kathak performance on Jashn-e-Banaras on the third day.

According to the Cultural Department, Pt. Lalit Kumar will play Vadya Yantra (instrument), Vishal Krishna will perform Shiv Tandav and Acharya Rahul Rohit Mishra will give classical music performance in Varanasi.  Along with this, Rajendra Prasanya will perform a shehnai and flute duet, Amit Srivastava will perform Dharohar Ganga on Maa Ganga and Shobhana Narayan will perform Kathak.

On the other hand, Sheikh Ibrahim of Lucknow will perform a jugalbandi (duet) using the tabla, mridangam, and sarangi, while Gaurav and Saurabh will perform a Kathak dance with a Lord Shri Krishna theme.  Bhatkhande Sanskrit University will perform Tabla and Santoor Jugalbandi during Varanasi’s final stay, while Kathak based on Maa Ganga will be performed by Pt. Birju Maharaj Kathak Sansthan. Saraswati Vandana based on Kathak will be presented by Kathak Kendra Lucknow while Anuj Mishra from Lucknow will present Kathak on Sita Swayamvar.