In an age characterized by the dominance of science and technology, research has obviously become a necessary pre-condition for every human endeavour to achieve higher standards of excellence. Keeping this in, the Kendra has set up a Research Wing which is engaged in collecting the rare compositions of the old masters, Ustads and pandits and preserving them in their original form and re-casting them, where necessary, to keep in tune with the contemporary world.
The Research Wing also provides guidelines to the students doing advanced study to expedite their progress. Furthermore, it undertakes research projects on folk music and folk dances of different regions, territories and states of the country highlighting the rich diversity and wealth of Indian folk arts and culture. The Kendra has already completed some research projects, including the one on the Folk Music and Dances of Kullu and Kangra Valleys of Himachal Pradesh at the instance of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi, which has won unstinted appreciation.
In 1991, the Kendra with the assistance of Department of Culture, Government of India, organized a weeklong Punjab Folk & Tribal Arts Festival with the object of reviewing and promoting the folk arts of Punjab which are on the verge of extinction. In 1994, the Kendra held a series of All-India Kathak Seminars-cum-Dance Festivals at seven State capitals of the country including Delhi, Jaipur, Bhopal, Patna, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar and Chandigarh to focus attention on the state of three Kathak Gharanas i.e. Jaipur, Lucknow & Banaras.
This was a unique event held for the first time at the All-India level at which the most eminent exponents academics and scholars of Kathak dance from all over the country got together to take stock of the present state and future development of this classical dance form of North India. Discussions at the seminars were supplemented by demonstrations by the leading Kathak dancers of the three Gharanas. The Kathak Seminar-cum-Dance Festival was well-received by the public and the press and the Kendra has decided to publish the papers read at the Seminars in a book form for the benefit of students and scholars of Kathak Dance. The Kendra plans to initiate more such research projects in future, especially in those areas and territories of the country which has a rich tradition of folk and tribal arts. The Kendra undertakes such projects independently or in collaboration with the Central or State Governments or other cultural institutions. The Kendra employs a trained workforce including investigators and researchers to undertake data processing, statistical analysis, consolidation and compilation of reports which are made available to the concerned State & Central Governments for drawing up plans of action for further development of art and culture in the related areas.
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