How a young dancer from Karachi built one of Delhi’s most important cultural centres

If you ask Dilliwalas for their memories of Triveni Kala Sangam across its 75 years, the answers may come in every form – aural, visual, gastronomic. Usually, they come all at once: the wiry Manipuri dancers leaping across the amphitheatre, the syncopated beats of the Chhau dhol, the crisp smack of Bharatanatyam feet. Or the mellowness of an aloo paratha, the comfort of shammi kebabs, and even the delicate tinkle of the bell that its canteen manager once wielded to summon waiters.

Those sensory imprints persist today, much as they did in the 1960s and 1970s when the legends of dance, music, theatre, art, sculpture and photography taught, performed and created here. Theatre greats Habib Tanvir and Ebrahim Alkazi, dance maestros Kelucharan Mahapatra and Singhajit Singh, and music icons Ravi Shankar and Vijay Raghav Rao all found a home in Triveni’s classrooms, galleries and open-air stages. A fading black-and-white photograph from 1963 shows the jazz pianist Duke Ellington giving a lecture-demonstration in its beloved amphitheatre.

Next February, the institution will celebrate its rich history with these luminaries and other artistes by organising a series of free performances and exhibitions. “It is 75 years of struggles, triumphs and stories of gurus and students,” said Amar...

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