Pt. Vidyadhar Vyas, the Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA) Awardee, Sangeetacharya and an authentic representative of the Paluskar Parampara of Gwalior Gharana turned 75 on 8th September this year. The Vyas Academy of Indian Music, Mumbai along with his family and disciples, has organised ‘Amrit Varsh Utsav’, a year-long festival of music to celebrate his life and creativity as a musician.
The Amrit Varsh Utsav is aimed at showcasing the essence of Gwalior Gayaki through the compositional variety of above-mentioned genres in different ragas and talas so that they do not fade away into oblivion. The year-long festival will take place in different cities associated with Pt. Vidhyadhar Vyas as his ‘Karmasthali’, where he has worked in his professional career.
One got the rare opportunity of listening to many of these genres by Pt. Vidyadhar Vyas himself when the Amrit Mahotsavv took off at the Triveni Kala Sangam. Vyas belongs to the direct lineage of this musical tradition, carrying forward the Gwalior Gayaki and Paluskar Parampara bestowed upon him through his father and Guru Pt. Narayanrao Vyas and uncle Pt. Shankarrao Vyas who were the direct disciples of Pt. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar.
Pt. Vidyadhar Vyas opened with raga Gunji Kanada, a rare combination of ragas Malgunji and Kanada. The slow composition “Sudhe Sugandh…” set to Vilambit Talwada Tala and the Chhota Khayal “Bolo bolo Madhusudana….” in Teental were dealt with the Ashtang Gayaki style of Gwalior Gharana comprising eight features like aalap, bol alaap, tan etc, taking care of the judicious treatment of both the component ragas. The harmonium by Dr. Vinay Mishra followed like a shadow, often inspiring the veteran vocalist.
The ‘Trivat’ comprising percussion Bols in raga Adana next, provoked Shailendra Mishra on tabla replicate the whole Bandish before coming to ‘Sam’ with a dashing Tihai in his opening Uthaan itself when Vyas sang the Trivat with full gusto and invincible virtuosity. The Chaturang in raga Sindoora, a beautiful Bandish of Pt. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar comprising four ang or components namely the song, sargam, tarana, and percussion bols or mnemonics, with a Sanskrit Shloka for the concluding antara describing ‘the swara, gram, moorchhana and taans of the ‘Swara-Mandala’; was rendered by the vocalist withperfect diction of Sanskrit language with utmost clarity. Vyas rendered not just the composition as a whole, which is the normal practice, but also elaborated upon each of the four sections of the Chaturang, utilising the Ashtanga gayaki in the barhat and vistar of the mukhada “Chaturang gao Gunijan milkar…”, Sargam, Tarana and the Shloka respectively. He was justified when he said, “these are the rare gems of the precious repertoire of the rich heritage”, before concluding his virtuoso performance with a Bhairavi Bhajan “Mat kar moh tu, Hari Bhajan ko man le…” immortalised by Late Pt. Narayanrao Vyas.
The Amrit Mahotsav had opened with Ganesh Vandana and Sharada Stuti composed by Pt. Vidhyadhar Vyas and presented by a group of his disciples. The inaugural session saw the release of ‘Vyas Kriti’, the first volume of the compositions of Pt. Shankarrao Vyas (from the series of six volumes, originally written in the Paluskar notation), transcribed in Bhatkhande notation and a special issue of ‘Naad Rang’ on Pt. Vidhyadhar Vyas; by the esteemed guests Pt. L. K. Pandit, Vidushi Shanno Khurana and Vidushi Krishna Bisht, who also spoke on the occasion. This was followed by a screening of a short film on the musical life of Pt. Vidyadhar Vyas, made by Nandita Desai.
Sangeetanjali, a musical offering by four of his students featured Anand Oak, Dr Vineet Goswami, Sanika Goregaonkar and Richa Varma presenting popular compositions of this gharana in ragas like Todi, Gaud Sarang, Gaud Malhar etc. Dr Vineet Goswami and Sanika Goregaonkar, who also sang a Tappa, impressed with their flawless renderings exhibiting their potentials. Richa has imbibed the mannerisms of the Guru specially his enjoyment of the rhythmic aspect of the musical renditions. Earlier also, during the formal ritual of obeisance to the Guru, the Hamir Bandish “Guru bin kaun bataave baat….” sung as a chorus by a group of disciples; made for a thoughtful musical backdrop.
