Anand Utsav, a festival of folk, tribal and craft traditions, returned for its second edition from November 13 to 15. It was dedicated to Pandavani legend Teejan Bai and filled Delhi's Sunder Nursery with nine performances and eleven living crafts.
There is a particular magic in hearing an epic sung under an open November sky, and last weekend Delhi got to feel it again. Anant Utsav, SPIC MACAY's celebration of India's folk, tribal and craft traditions, returned to Sunder Nursery from November 13 to 15, 2026. More than 100 artists and craftspeople from across the country came together for nine performances and eleven traditional crafts.
The festival opened with a shehnai recital by Ashwini Shankar, an auspicious first note for three days that travelled from Tamil Nadu to Manipur and Malwa.
A tribute to Teejan Bai
This year's edition was dedicated to Smt. Teejan Bai, who carried Pandavani, Chhattisgarh's narrative singing tradition, from village gatherings to the world stage. Through song, storytelling and fierce dramatic gesture, Pandavani retells episodes from the Mahabharata. Fittingly, the opening evening closed with a Pandavani performance by Smt. Prabha Yadav, in the tradition Teejan Bai made famous.
Three evenings, nine voices
Each evening brought three performances. Friday began with Harikatha by Smt. Vishakha Hari, whose blend of sacred storytelling, poetry and classical music turned ancient texts into living moral drama. Shri Sanjeev Kumar followed with the spirited Bodo dance of Assam.
Saturday leaned into wit and the spoken word. Kalamandalam Mohanakrishnan performed Ottanthullal, Kerala's lively, satirical fusion of dance and verse, and Atinga presented Phisharo Jagoi from Manipur. Mahmood Farooqui closed the night with Dastangoi, the art in which a single storyteller's voice conjures whole worlds of adventure and intrigue.
Sunday returned to devotion and to the Mahabharata. Shri Ghana Kanta Bora led Gayan Bayan, Assam's rhythmic devotional tradition of song, drums and cymbals. Shri Pradip Kumar Mishra followed, bringing the Chakravyuha episode alive in Mayurbhanj Chhau, Odisha's martial and athletic dance form. It fell to Shri Prahlad Singh Tipania to end the festival with Kabir Vani, singing the mystic's verses on equality and truth in the folk style of Malwa.
Crafts by daylight
By day, from 11 am to 7 pm, the gardens turned into a living workshop. Visitors watched master craftspeople at work and tried their hand at the crafts. Odisha's finely lined Pattachitra hung alongside the bold brushwork of Kalighat painting. Rajasthan was represented three times over, in Phad scrolls, Bagru block prints and the hand-shaped terracotta plaques of Molela. Telangana's Cheriyal scrolls, Karnataka's geometric Chittara, Kashmiri papier-mâché and Mainpuri's Tarkashi wire inlay each brought their own colours and techniques. Calligraphy, both written and carved in wood, completed the eleven. Among the artists were celebrated names such as Kalyan Joshi, D. Vaikuntam and Noordin Chitrakar.