The music of Gaan-Yogini Dhondutai Kulkarni, the doyen of Alladiya Khan’s famed Jaipur Atrauli Gharana; proved that the emotional and intellectual expression of an authentic musician springs from the personal philosophy and values of the artiste. The living roots of her gayaki transmitted the sap of adrenaline through the rigorous training she received from the tender age of five under Ustad Natthan Khan, and later under Bhurji Khan, son and disciple of Ustad Alladiya Khan, his grandson Baba Azizuddin Khan and ultimately under Surashri Kesarbai Kerkar as her one and only Ganda bandh disciple. Extensive training under these stalwarts of Jaipur Atrauli Gharana enriched not only her repertoire but also her intellectual growth and approach towards the gayaki. The Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA) honoured her valuable contribution to Hindustani music, with the prestigious SNA Award in the year 1990.
The SNA and the Kala Academy Goa jointly organised “Sangeetotsava”, a festival of Hindustani music dedicated to Dhondutai Kulkarni at the Dinanath Mangeshkar Kala Mandir, Goa from 21st to 23rd of July, featuring some of the leading musicians. The three-day festival reached its climax with the concluding concert by Dr. Prabha Atre.
Dr. Prabha Atre, the renowned musician, teacher, author and composer surprised the audience with her impressive performance with no trace of (nearing 85 years) age on her melodious voice or vibrant virtuosity. Dr. Atre opened her riveting recital with raga Jogkauns. The slow paced Bada Khayal “Jagat Sapna...” set to Vilambit Ek taal, gradually unfolded the raga with aalap barhat and a variety of sargam and aakar taans. The Chhota Khayal in Drut Ek taal was followed by a Tarana in Teen taal. The self-composed dadra “Bairan ratiyaan...” brought the concert to the concluding Devi Stuti, that she had instantaneously composed at Goa’s Nava-Durga temple, which has become a must, whenever she performed in Goa thereafter.
Dr. Prabha Atre was ably accompanied by her disciple Chetna Banawat on vocal support, Madhav Modak on tabla and Rahul Gole on harmonium.
Homecoming
The concert of Alka Deo Marulkar, retired as the Dean Faculty of Music from Goa’s this very Kala Academy, a few years ago, was like homecoming. Trained rigorously under her father Rajabhau Deo and M. S. Kanetkar of Jaipur gharana, Alka Deo is an authentic artiste of this famed gharana. Accompanied by Sanjay Deshpande on tabla, Shriram Hasabnis on harmonium and Shivani Dasakkar for vocal support, she opened her vocal recital in the morning session, with raga Shubhra Gauri, also known as “Subah ki Gauri”. The aesthetic elaboration of the raga through the Vilambit Khayal “Jogan Main To Bhai...” was followed by Chhota Khayal in Teen taal. After the serenity of this raga with Komal Rishabh and Dhaivat; Sur Malhar of Des Ang was a welcome contrast. The traditional khayal “Garaj Ghata...” in Jhap taal and “Barkha Ritu Bairi Hamar...’ in Teen taal were treated melodiously, underlining the core sequences of the monsoon raga. Alka Deo concluded her sumptuous concert with a dadra in Bhairavi.
Dr. N. Rajam
The vivacious violin recital by Dr. N Rajam with the detailed delineation of raga Bageshri in the typical tonal timbre of her mentor Pandit Omkarnath Thakur’s gayaki, had reached the inaugural evening to its climax. Accompanied by her gifted grand-daughter Nandini Shankar on violin and Mayank Bedekar on tabla, she opened with a composition set to Vilambit Ek taal, preceded with a succinct aalap to introduce the raga. If the opening Bada and Chhota khayals were treated in the Gayaki Ang, the concluding Drut Teen taal gat changed over to Tantrakari Ang, culminating into the Jhala. She concluded with the popular bandishi Thumri “Na Manoongi...” in Khamaj in the typical Banarasi andaz.
Buddhaditya Mukherjee
The sonorous sitar recital of Pandit Buddhaditya Mukherjee, the outstanding sitarist of Imdadkhani gharana was another classy performance of the Sangeetotsava. The very tonal quality of his instrument makes a qualitative difference to whatever he plays. He chose raga Shuddha Kalyan this evening, which is rarely played on instruments like the sitar or sarod and dealt it in the Gayaki Ang, his gharana is famous for. Opening with an introductory ‘Auchar’ of the raga, he played the composition in madhya vilambit Teen taal, opening the raga petal by petal with great reverence. He explored the interior crevices of the raga, with a refined approach. The unobtrusive tabla accompaniment by Pandit Prasoon Chatterjee enhanced the sitar with matching restraint. Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee concluded his recital with a melodious aalap and a traditional bandish in raga Pilu.
Kirana gharana stalwart
Pandit Mani Prasad was another stalwart of the Kirana Gharana. Accompanied mostly by his family members, like his son Deepak on harmonium, other son Lalit, nephew Ramesh Jule and grandson Rahul for vocal support and Basava Raj on tabla, he presented raga Puriya Dhanashri with great verve and concluded with Thumri Des, “Sawan Jhar Lage...’ set to Addha Theka.
Amongst the younger generation of artistes who participated in Sangeetotsav, Aditya Mohan Khandve from Mumbai left a lasting impact. A brilliant disciple of Pandit Ratnakar Pai, Yashwant Bua Joshi, Dhondutai Kulkarni, presently being groomed under Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar; Aditya has acquired the unbelievable authenticity of the gayaki. An ‘A’ grade artiste of the AIR, Aditya gave an impressive account of his in-depth training with raga Bhoop, followed by a composition of Dhondutai in Meera Malhar, being consistent in his approach in dealing with this rare variety of Malhar.
Ramdasi Malhar on sarod by Joydeep Ghosh, raga Marwa on flute by Srinivas Satapathy, the vocal recital of Goojari Todi by Brajeswar Mukherjee, Miyan ki Malhar by Sandipan Samajpati and Megh on sitar by Amitav Chatterjee were the other offerings by the younger artistes. The professional compering by Dr. Rupa Chari and the thanksgiving by Dattaguru Amonkar from Kala Academy were all pitch perfect, the only thing conspicuously missing in the beautifully brought out brochure by the SNA, was no introduction or even a photograph of Dhondutai Kulkarni, to whom the three-day music festival was dedicated!
