Pt. Kushal Das performing at the festival

Pt. Bhaskar Raghunath Bakhle (1869–1922), famous Hindustani singer, composer and teacher, better known as Bhaskarbua Bakhle or Bhaskar Rao, was an authority on the singing style of many gharanas including Gwalior, Agra and Jaipur-Atrauli. He was not only an able singer of music, singing Dhrupad, Dhamar, Khayal, Tappa, Thumri and Natya Sangeet, but was also an exponent of Rudra Veena. As Principal of the Bharat Gayan Samaj in Pune, he trained many disciples, including early 20th century musicians Krishnarao Fulmbrikar and Tarabai Shirodkar. For the last 50 years, the Ancient Arts Center (PKK) in Chandigarh has been organizing an annual music and dance festival in the memory of Bhaskar Bua.

The 53rd All India Bhaskar Rao Nritya Sangeet Sammelan was held this year for ten days at the Tagore Theatre, Chandigarh. Each evening began with a dance performance by students of the Center for Ancient Arts, followed by concerts by invited artists.

Although there were many moments to cherish at the festival, some concerts stick out in the mind. For example, the sitar concert by Pt. Kushal Das and singing is by Shalmali Joshi. Kushal Das took training from stalwarts like Pandit. Sanjay Banerjee of the Vishnupur Gharana, Ajay Sinha Roy (disciple of Baba Alauddin Khan), and Manas Chakraborty. His sitar playing had the flavor of Pt. Radhika Mohan Moitra of Shahjahanpur family.

Starting the concert with Alap-Jod-Jhala with Raga Shuddh Vasant, Kushal Das played two Gaat compositions in Vilambit (slow) and Madhya Lay (medium tempo) Teentaal. The raga sections were conceived so logically that each variation made a complete yet subtle statement. The sharp taunts were commendable. , Kushal Das concluded with a melodious tune based on Mishra Pahadi. Parimal Chakraborty accompanied him on the tabla.

Shalmali Joshi

Jaipur Gharana singer Shalmali Joshi was given music lessons by her mother Madhuri Kulkarni. He initially took lessons from Chintubua Mhaiskar of Sangli and later trained under Pandit. Ratnakar Pai.

Shalmali chose a special joint raga of his gharana, ‘Bhoop-Naat’ and explained how the unusual combination of bhupali and naat comes together in this raga. Before presenting Jod-Raaga, he demonstrated the characteristic features of both Bhup and Nat. His voice echoed with emotion as he presented two structurally important khayals – vilamita in ten matra jhaptaal and chota khayal set on drut ektaal of the 12-beat cycle. , Shalmali concluded with a hori set on Drut Ada-Chautala, a challenging time cycle of 14 talas.

Mumbai-based Deepak Pandit made his violin recital debut as a thank you to the Center for Ancient Arts on the inaugural evening. “This stage is like a temple to me because this is where I started my music career when I was just eleven years old.” This also proved that in this festival it is not age but skill that matters. After his elaborate alap-jod-jhala in Raga Kirwani, a Ragamala consisting of 12 ragas was presented. He was accompanied by Sridhar Parthasarathy on Mridangam and Devjit Patitundi on Tabla. Deepak concluded with a tune in ‘Poojab Ang Ki Bharavi’, which had both Madhyam, Gandhar and Rishabh and was used sensitively.

Puriya, a serene evening raga, was devoutly portrayed by Amjad Ali Khan, the resident guru of ITC-SRA Kolkata, the talented disciple of Kirana Gharana maestro Mashkoor Ali Khan. Kashyap Bandhu’s Puriya-Dhanashree had the distinct flavor of Banaras Gharana.

The instrumental quartet consists of Ronu Majumdar on flute, R on violin. Kumaresh, Aditya Kalyanpur on tabla and Hari Kumar on mridangam.

After a series of singing and playing, Ronu Majumdar on flute, R. The presentation of Kumaresh, Aditya Kalyanpur on tabla and Hari Kumar on mridangam came as a nice change. She played the role of Ragam Tanam Pallavi in ​​Aberi. In the end, the music got lost in the rhythmic performance and the frenetic pace at the end spoiled the performance.

Vishwa Mohan Bhatt along with his son Salil Bhatt attracted an enthusiastic audience.

The dance segment of the festival featured senior Bharatanatyam dancer Rama Vaidyanathan and troupe, Odissi by Guru Kiran Sehgal and disciples, Kuchipudi by Meenu Thakur and troupe, and Kathak by Vidha Lal and troupe, bringing the festival to its peak on the concluding day.

The annual PKK Awards for Excellence were presented to Professor Saubhagya Vardhan (Music), Suchitra Mitra (Dance) and Pandit. Vijay Shankar Mishra (Journalism).