‘Mata Ki Kahani’ Mega-Musical Premieres at Navratra Festival in Katra

Katra 12-10-2024: The grand spectacle and main highlight of the Navratra Festival 2026, Mata Ki Kahani, premiered here today with two magnificient shows at Shridhar Auditorium, Spiritual Growth Centre in Katra. Conceptualized, devised, designed, and directed by the illustrious Padma Shri Balwant Thakur, this mega-musical theatre presentation by Natrang Jammu captivated a packed audience, consisting largely of devotees of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi. The enthralling performance left spectators mesmerized, making it a fitting tribute to the sacred occasion.

History has perhaps never witnessed a production of this class at Katra which unfolds the entire legend in a highly spectacular manner. Balwant Thakur who is credited for having created theatrical wonders of world class once again established the fact that his magic spell will continue to mesmerize audiences through his mind-blowing ventures. ‘Mata Ki Kahani’ – a unique theatrical experience for the audience, beautifully showcased the popular legend of Mata Vaishno Devi. Magically it transported the entire audience to a mesmerising journey unfolding the story of Mata Vaishno Devi which is a classic narrative that echoes every Hindu household and is a part of every grandma’s midnight tale. As per the legend, during the period when the Goddess was busy in annihilating the Asuras, Her three main manifestations viz. Mata Maha Kali, Mata Maha Lakshmi and Mata Maha Saraswati got together one day and pooled their collective Tejas or spiritual strength. Today Mata Vaishno Devi is worshiped by millions and trillions of people across the world. Mata Vaishno Devi has surfaced as an embodiment of will, strength and peace. In the present times, when the atrocities against the mankind is prevailing, the legend of Mata Vaishnodevi gives a guiding light to her followers to help her devotees to uphold inner confidence and faith within themselves and on the strength of her healing and cosmic powers.

The most striking feature of today’s performance was the demonstration of perfection in every creative department be it the stage action, design, lighting, scenic imagery and visual poetry which left a life-time impact of a highly vibrant presentation.Pan-India audience on the occasion appreciated the performance and termed this as their lives best memorable presentation which they desired to continue for the entire year so over one Crore pilgrims visiting Katra every year get benefited by such educative showcasing of artistic presentations. Majority of the audiences admitted that they were not fully aware of the whole story of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi and after having witnessed this mind-blowing presentation they have come to know about various aspects of the story.

The production has been mounted by an accomplished team of artists, performers, technicians and designers. Neeraj Kant has contributed to direction, sets by Gaurav Angural, Bhavishya Aggarwal and Rahul Gupta while Rahul Singh, Pawan Verma, Mohd. Yaseen and Mahikshit Singh have handled costumes and properties. Sunny Mujoo has led the choreography, and Shivam Singh is responsible for light design. The collective efforts of the entire team have brought this ambitious theatrical production to life.

The artists who featured in this mega show included Neeraj Kant, Sunny Mujoo, Kananpreet Kaur, Arya Sharma, Pallvi Sharma, Khushboo Pandita, Vani Thakur, Muskan Gupta, Sakshi Gupta, Shailja Singh, Jhanvi Biloria, Vanshika Manhas, Anshika Wazir, Damini Thakur, Aanya Sharma, Navya Sharma, Ridhima Devi, Sakshi Devi, Ishani Sharma, Shivangi, Kaashvi, Ishita Sharma, Keerti Sharma, Suneha Angural, Aryan Sharma, Sanket Bhagat, Krishna, Arun Dev Verma, Arun Sharma, Amit Rana, Narinder Verma, Sahil Narwalia, Palshin Dutta, Mihir Gujral, Radhika Khajuria, Kushal Bhat, Mitali Sharma, Bhoomi Sharma, Priyal Gupta, Lal Mohd., Arun Sagar, Krishay Bhatia and Aadesh Dhar.