More than two centuries after her reign, you still feel queen Ahilyabai Holkar’s presence throughout Maheshwar, an ancient town caressed by the languid Narmada. The Ahilya Fort stands guard on the banks, its formidable walls with finely crafted arches holding within them many stories of the Maratha queen’s bravery, rising high above the ghats. One of the most powerful women rulers of Indian history, Ahilyabai ascended the throne after the death of her husband and son, and endeared herself to the people of Malwa through her welfare and development measures.
It is a dark chilly February evening. I walk past the school named after her and rows of shops selling Maheshwari handlooms, a weaving tradition patronised by her, to reach the huge gate of the Devi Ahilyabai Holkar palace. Two women in traditional nine yard saris, carry flowers to place at the feet of the life-size statue of their beloved Ma Saab. Her royal court and residence on the way to the riverfront stand out for their simplicity. Several stone steps take you down to the Ahilya Parisar, a magnificent complex that houses temples with towering shikars and intricately carved domes and long corridors with floral and animal motifs. The setting sun coats the royal arena in hues of crimson. A few more steps through an arched gate and you are at the venue of the Sacred River Festival.
It’s a quaint and intimate setting — the river gently flows behind the stage and the ramparts of the 18th century fort illuminated by hundreds of diyas. Among the audience are devotees, tourists and art lovers.
Presented by The Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Memorial Charitable Trust and Ms Mary McFadden, the annual festival celebrates history, architecture, Nature, the performing arts and crafts. This year’s theme ‘Paarasparyam – The strength of Partnership’ underlined the essence of this celebration, where the past coalesces with the present, where genres come together and where the connoisseur and uninitiated mingle.
The festival goes beyond performances to take a closer look at the process of how a creative idea takes shape and what the artistes go through before presenting it. So the three-day event typically begins with a baithak session each morning at the Lingarchan section of the palace that is decked up with colourful flowers. Musicians and dancers explain the nuances of their presentation that evening. Compere Anjana Rajan, a Bharatanatyam dancer and theatre practitioner, not just anchors the proceedings but also aids the audience in establishing a deeper understanding and a wider perspective of art.
Deepa Chakravarthy
The 2020 edition (February 7 to 9) opened with the performances of Mohiniyattom dancer Deepa Chakravarthy and ghazal singers Shaheen Salmani and Sadia Iqbal Khan.
On Day Two, multi-media dance production ‘Rango’ntaratma, featuring four dancers and two classical dance styles, unravelled the many layers of existence through philosophy, concept of sound, creative energy of a bindu, diverse forms of kala and the enjoyment of rasa.
The ‘Rango’ntaratma’ team at the festival
As the full moon cast its silvery glow on the stage and the lamps set afloat on the river moved in synchrony, Bharatanatyam dancers Purvadhanashree and Shridhar Vasudevan, along with Kathak artistes Divya Goswami and Hemanta Kumar Kalita, conveyed the beauty of inclusiveness and harmony. They danced solo and in group to show how we all are actors in the play of life. The production was conceptualised by renowned Delhi-based scholar, choreographer and mentor Kamalini Dutt. ‘Rango’ntaratma was backed by great music, narration and visuals.
Rama Sundar Rangaanathan
Day Three, held at the Ahilya Parisar, began with a tribute to the royal patronage to art and culture of the region. Hindustani vocalist Rama Sundar Ranganathan, through her thematic concert based on sagun (form) and nirgun (formless) compositions presented a fine sketch of the not-much-heard Indore Gharana, founded by the legendary Ustad Amir Khan. Her repertoire included songs by Adi Shakaracharya (on the Narmada), Swati Tirunal, Bulleh Shah, Kabir, Guru Nanak and Mahatma Gandhi. She ended her concert with a Tulsidas bhajan that saw the contrasting attributes of the two philosophies as complementary paths.
The concluding performance of the festival featured sitarist Uma Shankar, flautist Kiran Kumar and tabla artiste Siddhartha Chatterjee. They started with the melodious Bageshri. After playing some solo phrases, they built up the crescendo with an eclectic blend of laya and taal. They wound up the concert with ‘Vaishnava Janato’.
The instrumental ensemble
The appeal of such festivals, held outside auditoria, lies in the fact that they make the arts accessible. They are more about shared experiences. So it was at Maheshwar, where you saw the people of the quiet town avidly watching the performances. And when the venue is a heritage site, it allows you to engage with the past and understand the true meaning of tradition.
Richard Holkar’s ode to the legacy
It was at the suggestion of a Swiss friend that Richard Holkar conceived the Sacred River Festival to continue the Holkar legacy of promoting art and culture. “He thought we should have some kind of an event to preserve the architectural, cultural and environmental heritage. After all, the royal courtyard would have seen several such performances. So I felt it’s great idea to revive the tradition. And we are already into the 20th year of the festival,” says the enigmatic Holkar descendant, who takes keen interest in the curation and presentation of the festival.
