Manasarovar Kathak at NW Folk Life Festival 2008, Seattle Center, Charlotte Martin Theater.
Kathak, one of the Classical Dance forms of India gets its origins from North India, eastern Uttar Pradesh around Benares and Ayodhya. The word "KATHAK" originates from katha, meaning story. Therefore Kathak started as a story telling dance by the ancient Kathaakars in the temples of North India. Their role was to teach and to entertain the masses using highly sophisticated poetic literature in Sanskrit.