NDTV Creators Manch, NDTV’s flagship cultural conclave, will present its Varanasi chapter as part of the CII Banaras Biennale 2026. The two-day programme will take place at Namo Ghat and explore the city’s music, poetry, art, craft and cultural traditions.

According to a NDTV press release today, the programme will bring together musicians, poets, writers and artisans to explore how Banaras has shaped India’s cultural life and how its traditions continue to find new expression.

The opening day will feature a performance by renowned singer Kailash Kher with his band KAILASA. The programme will begin with Itihas Live, featuring disciples of Padma Vibhushan Girija Devi. It will also include a session with Padma Shri awardee Rajeshwar Acharya on the city’s musical heritage. Kavyaraag, a music and poetry project founded by singer-songwriter and poet Chinmayi Tripathi and composer and multi-instrumentalist Joell Mukherjii, will present Hindi and Urdu poetry through contemporary musical arrangements. The day will conclude with the Ganga Aarti at Namo Ghat.

Tabla maestro Bickram Ghosh will open the second day with a session on rhythm and music. The programme will also explore Banaras through its literature, history and traditional crafts.

Poet Vyomesh Shukla, Prof. Badri Narayan Tiwari, gulabi meenakari artist Ramesh Kumar Vishwakarma and Anant Narain Singh, the titular Maharaja of Banaras, will participate in a discussion on the city’s cultural character.

Writer and screenwriter Akshat Gupta will explore the place of Lord Shiva in the cultural imagination of Kashi. Humourist Sarvesh Asthana and poet and author Dr Tishya Shree will discuss the humour and everyday life of Banaras.

A panel discussion on the future of art and culture will examine the role of institutions in supporting artistic practices and bringing them to new audiences. The participants will include Tarana Sawhney, Chairperson of the CII National Committee on Art and Culture, and Prof. Ajit Kumar Chaturvedi, Vice Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University.

Rahul Kanwal, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of NDTV, said that the event aims to understand how artists find creative freedom within traditional art forms. He added that the choices artists make while working within traditions show how culture changes while preserving its heritage.

Madhav Singhania, Chairman of the Steering Committee of CII Banaras Biennale 2026, said that the association with NDTV Creators Manch celebrates India’s cultural heritage by bringing together music, poetry, crafts and artists. He added that every generation carries these traditions forward in its own way.