Late Vasantrao Chandorkar Smruti Pratishthan (hereinafter referred to as ‘Pratishthan’) was founded in 2001 with the following goals:

• To preserve, promote, nurture the rich heritage of Indian classical music & dance and pass it on to the next generation

• To kindle interest in and develop taste for these glorious performing arts in the audiences of Khandesh region(Districts of Jalgaon,Dhule & Nandurbar) which have been relatively deprived of these art forms.

• To stimulate & encourage the youth & upcoming artists to persue and improve their skills in these arts and offer a platform for them to present their skills to local as well as distant audiences

• Discover the folk & tribal performing arts of the Khandesh region & present them to the urban audiences.

• Organised and conducted regularly a three-day annual festival of classical music & dance called ‘Balgandharva Sangeet Mahotsav’. Each year for the last eight years top artists of national & international repute like Pt. Shivakumar Sharma, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasiya,Pt. Jasraj, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Pt. Biraju Maharaj, Pt. Arjun Mishra, Pt. Rajan & Sajan Mishra, Pt. Bhavani Shankar etc. have performed in Jalgaon and the entry tickets have always been kept very affordable for the public audience.

• Collaborated with Govt. & Non Govt. organizations like South Central Cultural Zone, Dadar Matunga Cultural Centre, NCPA, Mumbai, PL Deshpande Foundation,Pt. Firoj Dastur Memorial Foundation etc. to organize smaller festivals in Jalgaon for the young & upcoming performers of Indian classical music & dance.

• Organized workshops in which eminent teachers like Pandita Shama Bhate for Kathak dance, Pt. Kashalkar for classical music were invited to teach the locl students of Jalgaon.With the financial assistance of Ministry of Culture, we purchased a set of musical instruments like Tanpuras, Tabalas, Harmonium etc for use during festivals & workshops.

• Encouraged & helped the local students of Katthak to participate in national level competitions and to join the group of artists visiting and performing in other countries like France.

• Organized a regular annual competition of classical and semi classical vocal music in which over hundred amateur artists/students from all over Maharashtra enter and win prizes.

• Approached the local Municipal authorities for granting a piece of public land to construct an auditorium and other facilities to conduct all activities under one roof. As soon as the land is granted, funds will be raised through govt. grants and donations for construction.Consistency & proficiency in all the above activities has now earned for the Pratishthan a good reputation amongst the local, state & also national circles of Top as well as amature and upcoming artists, state & national media and the local audiences. With these strengths we are now ready to appeal to the large national and International Foundations and Corporates who are capable & willing to grant sufficient financial assistance to further and expand our goals & horizons. With their help we wish to Conduct our coveted festival of Balgandharva Sangeet Mahotsav on a larger scale to include more artists of greater repute.

• To conduct our workshops on a regular monthly basis where capable & reputed teachers from the Metros will visit regularly to teach our local students and monitor their progress monthly. If possible a capable teacher may be appointed on a fulltime salary basis to maintain continuity in such training between the visits of visiting faculty.

• Purchase and install a set-up of audio-visual equipment for recording the training episodes so that the students can replay and use them for the practice sessions during the intervals between two workshops. The equipment can also be used to replay some of the programs in front of rural audiences who can not come to the city to attend the events. A mobile van would be helpful for this purpose.

• Organize events & competitions of classical music & dance in University/college campuses.

• Initiate the activity of discovering talented artists of regional folk & tribal performing arts and presenting them to the urban audience. Also explore the possibilities offering training in these arts for the interested urban artists.