Bhakti or devotion has been the mainstay of Indian music and culture since ancient times. The International Foundation for Fine Arts, in collaboration with the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) Mumbai, recently organised a seminar on the ‘Aspect of Bhakti in Indian Music Traditions’ at its Experimental Theatre.
This initiative was part of the unbroken series of NCPA seminars started by Pt. Arvind Parikh, as the chairman of the ITC-Sangeet Research Academy (SRA) Western Region in 1991. The eagerly-awaited annual event has resumed, post-Pandemic, despite the withdrawal of support by the SRA, under the expert guidance of the musician/scholar Arvind , assisted by his disciple/daughter Purvi Parikh.
The thoughtfully conceived seminar encompassed bhakti, as reflected in almost all musical traditions prevalent in India and beyond. Besides Bhakti Sangeet, a genre that is identified with devotion and dedication towards the Almighty and the guru. The two-day seminar explored the relevance of bhakti in myriad genres from folk and classical to semi-classical, light, and folk music, through talks and performances by eminent scholars and reputed practitioners of the respective genres.
Keynote speaker Gaurav Gadgil deliberated upon the concept of bhakti, its history, and practice from the Indian perspective and similar concepts in Sufism and the Western World. Dhanashree Lele spoke about the Navadha (nine kinds of) Bhakti and its relation to music most convincingly.
Shekhar Sen at NCPA’s ‘Aspect of Bhakti in Indian Music Traditions’ held at NCPA’s Experimental Theatre in 2023. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The knowledgeable, quick-witted Shekhar Sen introduced Bhakti Gayan, with the metaphor of an old pickle with its delectable aroma and flavour, while notating ‘Samarpan’ (devotion) as ‘Sa Ma Re Pa Ni’ eloquently. He also demonstrated Bhakti-Gayan through the poetry of Rasakhan, and by playing the audio recording of the Brahmananda Pada ‘Jo bhaje hari ko sada’ in the voice of Pt. Bhimsen Joshi.
Uday Bhawalkar performing at NCPA’s seminar ‘Aspect of Bhakti in Indian Music Traditions’ held at NCPA’s Experimental Theatre in 2023. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Dhrupad singer Uday Bhawalkar made the audience feel the element of Bhakti through his tuneful meditative alap in Ahir-Bhairav. “Bhakti is related to one’s own experience!” he said, adding that Dhrupad has Bhakti in both the swara and pada.
Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty at NCPA’s seminar ‘Aspect of Bhakti in Indian Music Traditions’ held at NCPA’s Experimental Theatre in 2023. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty defined bhakti as unconditional surrender and demonstrated how reaching a particular note with total surrender and tunefulness enlivens the raga, and musical forms such as khayal, tarana and tappa. He reiterated that this comes through shravana and manan — guided listening and meditating upon it with complete devotion.
Aruna Sairam shared her childhood memories of how listening to her mother singing ‘Jago bansi-wale lalana’ to wake up the idol of Krishna every morning embedded bhakti deep inside her. She demonstrated it through the Tyagaraja kriti in Dhanyasi raga ‘Sri vignarajam bhaje’, and the vivadi raga Chandrajyothi to prove that bhakti is also in dissonance. After the Dikshitar kriti ‘Ardhanareeshwaram aradhayami satatam’ in Kumudakriya, she rendered her famous ‘Kalinga narthana’ thillana that enthralled rasikas.
Pt. Suresh Talwalkar at NCPA’s seminar ‘Aspect of Bhakti in Indian Music Traditions’ held at NCPA’s Experimental Theatre in 2023. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Charudutt Aphle performing at NCPA’s seminar ‘Aspect of Bhakti in Indian Music Traditions’ held at NCPA’s Experimental Theatre in 2023. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Pt. Suresh Talwalkar spoke about the significance of laya-tala with reference to bhakti. Next was Charudutt Aphle’s captivating Harikatha and Shruti Sadolikar’s well-researched paper on the Pushtimargiya Haveli Sangeet, rendered in the raags of the eight Prahars or the changing seasons, with ritu raags such as Basant ki Bahar. She sang a couple of devotional padas, written by the Ashtachhap saint poets, in Haveli Sangeet.
Shruti Sadolikar performing at NCPA’s seminar ‘Aspect of Bhakti in Indian Music Traditions’ held at NCPA’s Experimental Theatre in 2023. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
In their joint session on bhakti-sahitya and its effect on Bhakti Sangeet, Shekhar Sen and Aruna Sairam explained with poetic recitations the perspectives of Hindustani and Carnatic music composers and poets, offering the audience a comparative idea.
Aruna Sairam performing at seminar ‘Aspect of Bhakti in Indian Music Traditions’ held at NCPA’s Experimental Theatre in 2023. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Opening with a Kabir bhajan in Gorakh-Kalyan, Shekhar also sang a Meera bhajan, while Aruna presented verses by the Alwars and Abhangs. She also presented the devotional compositions by Swati Tirunal and Purandaradasa. Shekhar sang ‘Jogi mat ja’ in the pensive swaras of Marwa, the emotive recitation of ‘Sudama-Charit’ written by Narottam Dasa and the Lalit-Kishori Pada ‘Lajile sakuchile…’. Aruna matched these with poetic gems, to repeat applause.
The impressive introduction of Bhakti Dhara by Manoj Kumar was followed by presentations on Baul Bhakti-Dhara by Sukanya Sarbadhikari with video clips of Parvathy Baul; Shyama Sangeet by Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty; Sufi genres such as Naat and Qawwali by Janab Salim Arif; and the Bhakti-Dhara by Shrimanto Shankardeva from Assam and the North East by Prof. Pradeep Jyoti Mohanta with captivating audio-visual clips of Nat-Sankeertan and the Manipuri Raas.
Sikh Shabad Kirtan by Sukhpal Singh and Harpreet Singh at NCPA’s seminar ‘Aspect of Bhakti in Indian Music Traditions’ held at NCPA’s Experimental Theatre in 2023. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Sikh Shabad Kirtan by Sukhpal Singh and Harpreet Singh; Sugam Sangeet by Anup Jalota and Maithili, Bhojpuri, and Awadhi folk songs by Sharada Sinha offered vibrant shades and flavours of the various streams of Bhakti-Dhara.
The concluding session on bhakti in contemporary times by popular orator Devdutt Pattanaik saw him speak about the rational approach to Bhakti in the present scenario.
The audience on both days and their response vouched for the importance and impact of the enriching seminar.
