Krishna, the omnipotent, the omniscient, the omnipresent, is the One who has deeply left his imprints on all our Indian arts. This Janmashtami the rasikas got a chance to get drenched in a similar bliss of Krishna at the Utthan Samiti’s “Krishna Utsav” at Triveni Kala Sangam. The festival began with a Kathak performance by Namrrta Raai where she commenced her concert with the very first verse of Krishanashtakam by Adi Shankaracharya, a composition of Pandit Birju Maharajji in raga Bhupali. Namrrta started with a Vilambit Teen taal piece where she presented a ‘Thaat’ of Lord Krishna, followed by Paran, Aamad, Tukdas, and Tihais. Ladi, a sequence in Aadi Laya ( off beat), portraying the playful character of Lord Krishna in Teentaal Madhya laya was yet another charming piece.
With her three Tihais, conceived in Jhap taal, she showcased three different characteristics of human beings — the confident, the confused, and the one totally lost. After this Nritta ang, Namrrta presented a well-known Dadra, “More Kanha Ko Koi Matt Dekho Najariya Lag Jayegi” set in raga Mishra Khamaj. Quite evidently it was a piece depicting Yashoda requesting the Gopis not to see her Kanha lest he’s beseeched by the evil eye. Dressed in Krishna’s ‘peeta vasana’, or the yellow Angrakha Namrrta reminded rasikas of yet another facet of the Lord. She concluded her concert with Drut Teentaal, presenting “Chhed-Chaad Ki Gat” depicting the amorous tussle between Radha and Krishna.
The second half of the evening was made special by renowned flautist Ajay Prasanna. When asked as to what relevance Krishna holds in his life, Ajay said, “Krishna and flute are synonymous and interchangeable. The very mention of flute reminds one of Krishna and Krishna is the Lord who plays the flute. For me, Lord Krishna is the master flautist, the greatest musician of the universe. He resides in my heart and the music from my flute flows as if it is He who is inspiring me to play the flute.”
Beginning with Puriya Kalyan, an evening raga, the audience was reminded of an image where Lord Krishna would play the flute during sunset to call upon all the cows, to mesmerize Gopas and Gopis invoking emotions of love and longing that was very effectively denoted by this raga.
Following it was a Banarasi dhun in raga Mishra Khamaaj forming a sort of communication between Krishna and the Gopis where Krishna is teasing them, and the Gopis are complaining and insisting that Krishna should not trouble them. The pure emotions of unconditional love in sweet arguments were expressed aesthetically through this dhun. Ajay concluded his recital with a popular Krishna bhajan “Badaa Natkhat Hai Krishna Kanhaiyya, Ka Kare Yashoda Maiyaa.”
The second day of the festival saw upcoming vocalist Vidhi Sharma presenting extraordinary range and variations rendering bhajans by Surdas, Kabir, Tulsidas et al. Her recital commenced with a Meera bhajan titled “Mharo Pranaam Banke Bihari Ji” based on raga Yaman. Invoking Lord Krishna’s blessings, Meera, in this bhajan, beautifully and intricately captures Lord Krishna’s divine appearance like the mor mukut, the alkakaari on His kundals and His flute. This was followed by a self-composed piece, especially for Krishna Utsav- “Nand duaare ik jogi aayo, shingi naad bajaayo; sheesh jataa shashi vadan suhaave, Arun Nayan chhabi chhayo.” This Surdas bhajan described beautifully about an episode that happened immediately after Krishna’s birth. How a Jogi keen on having Krishna’s darshan, arrives at Nand’s doorstep, how Krishna, who wouldn’t stop crying, when held by the Jogi and whispered a mantra in his ear, smiles and how this Saint is in bliss after Krishna’s darshan. Before leaving, he discloses his name as Shankar (Lord Shiva).
The festival concluded with a sitar recital by renowned sitarist Gaurav Mazumdar. Since this was all about celebrating Janmashtami, he chose to play a midnight raga Malkauns, which marks the time of birth of Lord Krishna.
Also, he played tala Dhamaar as it is a rhythmic cycle of 14 beats, which describes Krishna’s lively acts and his life in Braj.
