It was a week of devotional music, with the “Bhakti Sangeet” for three consecutive days at the Nehru Park and “Samarpanam” at the India Islamic Cultural Centre. “Bhakti Sangeet”, the festival of devotional music was jointly organised by the Sahitya Kala Parishad, Department of Art, Culture and Languages and the Government of Delhi, whereas “Samarpanam” (Dedication) was a devotional venture of Deepak Samson who aims to keep alive the Indian culture through music among the youth and to spread love and peace in our lives.
Bhakti Sangeet opened with the popular bhajans in the syrupy voice of Anuradha Paudwal, and then offered a serene contrast in the form of Nirgun Bhajans by Bhuvanesh Komkali. He took time to tune his pair of tanpuras to perfection.A worthy disciple of Vidushi Vasundhara Komkali and Pandit Madhup Mudgal, Bhuvanesh rendered the Kabir bhajans like “Maya maha thagini hum jaani…,” reflecting the deep Nirgun nuances. It was a delight to listen to him at Bhakti Sangeet again.
His renderings of “Shunya gadh shahar..” and “Yugan yugan hum yogi…” brought back the melodious memories of Pandit Kumar Gandharva. On public demand, he also sang “Ud jaayega panchhi akela, jag darshan ka mela….” but without the rhythmic support of tabla in a free flowing bol-aalap style, highlighting the philosophic crux of the song.
The “Vairagya bodh” or the sense of renunciation created by Bhuvanesh’s sombre renderings vanished with the sensuous exuberance of qawwali by the Warsi brothers from Hyderabad. Janab Naseer and Nazeer Ahmed Warsi are the grandsons of Ustad Aziz Ahmed Warsi, famous for his classical music based renderings. The excitement created by the rhythmic flourish of dholak and tabla was contagious enough to establish an instant rapport with the audience who joined them by clapping their hands along.
The last evening also had a similar contrast between the opening serenity of Dhrupad by Pandit Uday Bhavalkar and the concluding Katha-Vachan by Pandit Chhannu Lal Mishra.
Bhavalkar’s full-bodied voice is honed to a mellowness that touches the heart. He explained, “Aalap in Dhrupad is Bhakti or devotion itself. The syllables used for aalap come from the mantra “Om Anant Hari Narayan…..” The meditative aalap in raga Madhuvanti was followed by the devotional composition of Dhrupad set to Chautala. The Tulasi Das Pada “Main Hari patit-pavan sune…” came next, in raga Durga set to Teevra Tala, before he concluded with a Sool Tala Dhrupad “Durge Bhavaani...:”. He reiterated that bhakti is a state of mind. Shringar and Bhakti are both the same. If you relate the lyrics to the worldly affairs, it is “Laukik” meaning worldly and if you relate it to the divine it becomes “Par-Laukik” divinity beyond the mundane worldly matters.
Mellifluous exposition
“Samarpanam” was spearheaded by Sudha Raghuraman with the mellifluous exposition of the Tulsidas Pada “Gaaiye Ganapati Jag-vandan…” was in a combination of ragas Hamsadhwani and Vasanti. She also regaled the audience with a Kriti of Maharaja Swathi Thirunal “Paramapurusha Jagadeeswara…” in raga Vasanta, and the all time favourite “Krishna ni begi nibaro…” the immortal composition of Kanakadasa in Yamuna Kalyani; apart from the Marathi Abhang of Namdev, a composition of Swami Sahajananda and the popular “Thunuk chalat Ramchandra” concluding with Gamanashrama.
