The All India Devotional Song Competition continued attracting huge crowd for the fourth consecutive day of the Navratra Festival 2018.Famous Celebrity Singer, Manu Vandana, winner of the Awaaz Punjab Di contest, enthralled the audience with his performance. Former winner of AIDSC, Sanjeet Kumar also mesmerized the audience through his Soufiyana Song.The evening was begun by lighting of a traditional lamp by Director Horticulture, Anuradha Gupta.In preliminary round of the competition, Pranabha Sharma from Jammu grabbed the 1st spot, Kripal & Rashpal from Punjab shared the 2nd position whereas 3rd position was bagged by Aditya Kumar from Jammu. The winners were awarded with the cash prizes of Rs 10,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 3,000 respectively.The Devotional Song Competition was adjudged by the panels of experts in music including Singer Manu Vandana, Ex-HOD, Music, PG M.A.M College Jammu ,Dr Usha Bhagati and HoD ,GDC, Sanjoli, Himachal Pradesh, Dr Surinder Sharma.The competition is being organized by the SMVD Shrine Board and Department of J&K Tourism in association with J&K Bank, the District Administration, Shraddha Mh One with active support of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Narayana Super Specialist Hospital, Surya Milk, Pure Roots Herbal, Nidesh Builders Jammu, Divinity, Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM, PHDCCI, Yog Ashram Trust and the local community.
The winner of the grand finale of All India Devotional Song Competition (AIDSC), scheduled on October 17, will be awarded with gold amounting to Rs 3 Lakh and a recording contract with Venus Records & Tapes Limited. The runner-ups will get gold worth Rs 01 lakh and Rs 50,000 as prize money.The proceeding of the competition was conducted by Chairman, AIDSC, Rakesh Wazir. He informed that the Quarter final and Semi-final event will take place on the October 15 and 16 respectively.Earlier, an impressive Shobha Yatra showcasing regional culture by displaying folk dances like Kud, Fultru, Hiran dance with a presentation of jaatar, a traditional way of paying homage to the ancestors was paraded through the town.Another attraction of the yatra was a dance performance by Manipuri troupe. Other cultural items included Kalbelia dance of Rajasthan and Garba, a Gujarati dance, coordinated by artists of J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages and veteran Dogri activist Sat Salarvi, were also presented during the yatra.CEO Katra Development Authority S P Mehra , SDM Katra Ashok Choudhary ,Assistant Director Tourism, Rupali Mahajan and Umesh Shan, Tehsildar Katra, Sunil Sharma, Chairman Devotional Song Committee & President Hotel Association Katra, Rakesh Wazir, Yog Acharya Swami Yoga Nand ji Maharaj, Usha Bagati, C L Verma, Surinder Kumar Sharma and prominent citizens from all walks of life were also present on the occasion.In other events, Mata ki Kahani, a musical theatre presentation, showcasing the legend of Maa Vaishno Devi was presented by the eminent theatre personality, Balwant Thakur and his Natrang theatre group. The show is performed every evening on 6:30 pm and 8:00 pm at the open-air theatre, Railway Station, Katra.