14th Taalchakra festival opens in Pune with classical music, percussion and Kathak

Pune, October 31, 2026: The 14th Taalchakra festival began at Ganesh Kala Krida Manch in Swargate. The first day featured a musical performance titled Fusion 2026, in which Indian classical music, contemporary fusion and Kathak shared one stage.

Taalchakra is the brainchild of renowned tabla player Padma Shri Pandit Vijay Ghate. It is the only festival in Pune devoted entirely to rhythm and percussion instruments, and it showcases the diversity of India's various rhythm traditions.

Pandit Vijay Ghate, founder of Taalchakra, was present at the inauguration. Bharat Kulhalli, director of Mascot Flowtech, and Praveen Badhekar, managing director of the Badhekar Group, also attended.

Among the first day's artists, Sheetal Kolwalkar performed Kathak, Tanmay Deochake played the harmonium and Sagar Patokar did the padhant (recitation of rhythmic syllables). Nagesh Adgaonkar sang. Shikhar Naad Qureshi played the djembe, Sangeet Haldipur handled the keyboard and Ravi Chary played the sitar. Sheldon D'Silva was on bass guitar, Gino Banks on drums and George Brooks on saxophone.

The programme opened with three compositions. The first, Vam Sutra, was based on a taal cycle of 11 beats. The second, Yogi, was based on raag Jog, and the third, Mayra, on raag Yaman.

Compositions by saxophonist George Brooks were also presented, including McCoy, The Outer Sea and Frame Master. Frame Master is based on raag Puriya Dhanashree. The performance also included the Ram bhajan Ram Ka Gungan Kariye in raag Ahir Bhairav.

Sheetal Kolwalkar presented thaat, aamad and tatkar in Roopak taal. This was followed by a performance of Abhinav- Dhanyabhaag Seva Ka Avsar Paya in raag Bhairavi. A jugalbandi followed, in which dance and music engaged in a playful exchange of rhythm.

The entire programme was compered by Milind Kulkarni.

The festival's second day will be held at the same venue, Ganesh Kala Krida Manch, Swargate, on Sunday, November 1. The programme begins at 6 pm. Entry is free, on a first-come, first-served basis.