Antaragni (English: "the fire within") is an annual cultural festival of the

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT- Kanpur or IIT-K) is a public institute of technology located in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. As an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), it was declared an Institute of National Importance by ...

, usually held in October. Established in 1965, the four-day-long festival attracts participants from over 350 colleges in India and has garnered substantial media attention over the years. It features professional shows, competitions, musical performances, DJs, fashion shows, Indian folk dances, and more.

History

Antaragni began as an inter-collegiate cultural event in 1965. The name of the festival was changed from Culfest to Antaragni in 1993, 27 years after its inception. The festival is entirely organised by students of IIT Kanpur, with the Antaragni chairperson being the only faculty member on the team. Over 350 Indian colleges have participated in the event.

Performances

* 2006 –

Vishwa Mohan Bhatt Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, known professionally as V. M. Bhatt, is an Indian Hindustani classical music instrumentalist who invented and plays a modified slide guitar that is widely called the Mohan veena. Personal life Bhatt lives in Jaipur, Rajastha ...

Astad Deboo Astad Deboo (13 July 194710 December 2020) was an Indian contemporary dancer and choreographer. He was considered a pioneer of modern dance in India. Through his career he collaborated with artists including Pina Bausch, Alison Becker Chase an ...

. * 2016 –

Mike Candys Michael David Kull (; born 21 August 1971), better known as Mike Candys (), is a Swiss DJ and house music producer. He is managed by Mevlan D. Musical career In 2008, Candys became widely known in Switzerland with the song "La Serenissima". In ...

, Sartek,

Demonic Resurrection Demonic Resurrection is a symphonic death metal band from Mumbai, India, formed in 2000. Its current line-up consists of Sahil "The Demonstealer" Makhija on vocals and rhythm guitar and Virendra "Viru" Kaith on drums. Since its formation, the ba ...

, Madboy Mink,

Adnan Sami Adnan Sami Khan (born 15 August 1969) is an Indian singer, musician, composer, actor and pianist. He performs Indian and Western music in many languages, such as Hindi, Urdu, English, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. He has been awarded ...

. * 2017 – DJ

KSHMR Niles Hollowell-Dhar (born October 6, 1988), known professionally as Kshmr (pronounced "Kashmir" and stylized in all caps), is an American musician, DJ, songwriter, record producer, former rapper, and singer. He was ranked 23rd on ''DJ Mag''s 20 ...

Vishal–Shekhar Vishal–Shekhar are an Indian music composition, production, singing, and songwriting duo consisting of Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani from Mumbai. Known predominantly for their work as music composers in Hindi cinema, Vishal–Shekhar h ...

Euphoria Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...

Skyharbor Skyharbor was an Indian/American progressive metal band with members from New Delhi and Mumbai, India; and Cleveland, Ohio, US. History The band was initially guitarist Keshav Dhar's studio project, before TesseracT vocalist Daniel Tompkins c ...

. * 2018 –

Amit Trivedi Amit Trivedi (born 8 April 1979) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, musician who works primarily for Indian cinema. After working as a theatre and jingle composer and composing for non-film albums, he debuted as ...

, DJ

Quintino Quintino (Latin ''Quintinus'', from ''Quintus'') is a Latin-derived male given name meaning "the fifth". People * Quintino Bocaiuva - Brazilian journalist and politician * Quintino Vilas Boas Neto - Portuguese artist * Quintino de Lacerda - ...

The Local Train The Local Train is an Indian rock band formed in Chandigarh in 2008, and based in New Delhi since 2015. The band's current lineup consists of lead guitarist and vocalist - Paras Thakur, bassist - Ramit Mehra, and drummer and percussionist - Sah ...

Guthrie Govan Guthrie Govan (; born 27 December 1971) is a British guitarist and guitar teacher, known for his work with the bands the Aristocrats, Asia, GPS, the Young Punx and the Fellowship, as well as his solo project Erotic Cakes. More recently, he ha ...

. * 2019 –

Shankar Mahadevan Shankar Mahadevan (born 3 March 1967) is an Indian singer and composer who is part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio that writes music for Indian films. In 2023, he was awarded an honorary doctorate (''honoris causa'' degree) by Birmingham Ci ...

Ehsaan Noorani Ehsaan Noorani is an Indian composer and guitarist. Music career Noorani is the part of the ''Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy'' trio, which consists of Shankar Mahadevan, Loy Mendonsa and himself. He started off as a freelance guitarist for many comp ...

Loy Mendonsa Loy Mendonsa is an Indian music director and part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio which consists of himself, Shankar Mahadevan and Ehsaan Noorani. Before becoming a music composer, he played piano and keyboards for famous Indian music compos ...

. * 2020 – comedians Abhishek Upmanyu,

Aakash Gupta Aakash Gupta is an Indian comic, actor, performer YouTuber and theatre artist. He was the co-winner of the second season of the stand-up comedy competition television series Comicstaan along with Samay Raina. He is trained in performing arts and ...

, and Harsh Gujral; musicians The Yellow Diary and

Sonu Nigam Sonu Nigam (born 30 July 1973) is an Indian playback singer, music director, dubbing artist and actor. He is one of the most versatile singers and widest vocal ranges in the history of Indian music. His songs vary from romantic to break-up, cla ...

. * 2021 –

Ritviz Ritviz Srivastava (born July 24, 1996) is an Indian singer-songwriter, electronic musician and record producer from Pune, Maharashtra, India. He rose to prominence after his song "Udd Gaye" was featured on A.I.B.'s official YouTube channel aft ...

Sunidhi Chauhan Sunidhi Chauhan (pronounced ; born Nidhi Chauhan, 14 August 1983) is an Indian playback singer. Known for her Bold vocal range, she has recorded songs for films in several Indian languages and List of awards and nominations received by Sunidhi ...

Notable events

* India Inspired – political forum that involves politicians, leaders, and media personalities and where socially relevant issues are discussed, with an emphasis on youth culture. In past years, it has witnessed participation from the student community. Speakers at this event have included Telugu film director

Sekhar Kammula Sekhar Kammula (born 4 February 1972) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer who works in Telugu cinema. He has garnered two Filmfare Awards South, and six state Nandi Awards for his directional works. Sekhar Kammula was among the ...

, CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi, and actress, singer, and social activist

Vasundhara Das Vasundhara Das (born 18 August 1977) is an Indian playback singer and former actress. Vasundhara's acting career includes '' Hey Ram'' (Tamil/Hindi), '' Monsoon Wedding'' (English), ''Citizen'' (Tamil), '' Ravana Prabhu'' (Malayalam), '' Lanke ...

. * Kavi Sammelan – poetry competition. It has included appearances by painter, professor, poet, and film lyricist

Rahat Indori Rahat Indori, born as Rahat Qureshi, (1 January 1950 – 11 August 2020) was an Indian Bollywood lyricist and Urdu poet. He was also a former professor of Urdu language and a painter. Prior to this he was a pedagogist of Urdu literature at DA ...

and poet Kirti Kale. * Filmmaking contests – judges have included

Abbas Tyrewala Abbas Tyrewala (born 15 May 1974) is an Indian screenwriter, lyricist and director. After making his mark as a screenwriter and dialogue writer in the early 2000s, with award-winning films such as ''Maqbool'' (2003) and ''Munnabhai M.B.B.S.'' ( ...

and

Luv Ranjan Luv Ranjan (born 29 September 1982) is an Indian film & music director, writer, lyricist and producer who works in Hindi cinema and owns Luv Films. His notable films include the romantic comedies ''Pyaar Ka Punchnama'' (2011), ''Pyaar Ka Punchn ...

. * Hindi literary events – judges have included Hindi authors Nasira Sharma,

Leeladhar Jagudi Leeladhar Jagudi is an Indian teacher, journalist and poet of Hindi literature. He is the author of several poetry anthologies including ''Natak Jari Hai'' and ''Shankha Mukhi Shikharon Par'' and is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award, for ...

, and Ravindra Prabhat.

References

External links

* {{Indian Institutes of Technology Indian Institutes of Technology festivals Culfests IIT Kanpur 1965 establishments in Uttar Pradesh Festivals established in 1965