A spiritual conclave

Dance and music – Carnatic, Hindustani classical and fusion – formed part of the Mahasivaratri celebrations, organised for the Yaksha fest, in Coimbatore.

Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty.

The opening day of the Yaksha celebration of Indian Classical Arts 2016 was marked by the dance recital of Rama Vaidyanathan, which was impressive with brisk and well-timed, free-flowing movements. The graceful dancer dressed in bright costume captured all the nuances of the items presented with vivid imagery.

The opening number, alarippu, based on the symmetry and architecture of the temple enshrining the Devi picturised the journey of the devotee from the physical to the metaphysical in methodical progression and touched the contours with exciting curves and bends. The conveyance of the idea was awesome.

The nayika talking to her sakhi about the greatness of Lord Brihadeeswara in the Khamas varnam was intensely dramatic and her brisk movements carving linear abstractions in space to bring out her longing for Lord Nataraja was sharp and crisp. The Dasar padam in Kannada depicting Radha’s exasperation with Krishna’s continuous playing on the flute was deftly handled. While describing Nandanar’s inability to have darshan of the cosmic dancer her conveyance of how jiva is Siva and Siva is the jiva was a power-packed presentation with accent on body language and movement of eyes. The orchestra included Satish Venkatesh (vocal), Himanshu Srivastava (nattuvangam), Sreedharan (mridangam), Vijay Anand (violin) and Prasanna (flute).

Well-aligned to sruti, the clarity of diction and presentation skills of

Malladi brothers – Sreeram Prasad and Ravi Kumar – were evident in their vocal recital on the second day of the Isha Fest 2016. Setting the tone and tenor of their kutcheri with ‘Parameswara Jagadeeswara Sankara’ in Nattai, Ravi Kumar’s alapana of Pantuvarali for ‘Sambo Mahadeva’ followed by a pleasing niraval and a spate of swaras, rendered with finesse, struck a chord with the listeners. Sreeram Prasad’s brief raga sketch of Devagandhari for the kriti, ‘Panchashatpeetarupini’ was an evocative version. The raga vinyasam of Sankarabharanam shared by the duo was a linear development interspersed with swift flashes through the octaves effortlessly.

V.V. Ravi (violin) imparted deft touches and delicate shades in his solo versions of the ragas and swara sallies. K.V. Prasad (mridangam) and Sridhar (ghatam) enhanced the recital with their rhythmic laya beats including a vibrant thani.

Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty ’s Hindustani classical music session, to the accompaniment of Soumen Sarkar (tabla), Gourab Chattarjee (harmonium) and Anol Chatterjee (tampura and vocal support) gave a glimpse of his remarkably flexible voice. His Patiala, Kasur Gharana style, in keeping with Bade Ghulam Ali’s tradition soaked every syllable of the first composition in praise of Lord Siva in Sur taal of ten beats. After an elaborate alap in the Dhrupad style followed the number, ‘Kara Kapala Lochana’ and the antara, ‘Nilakanta Shobitha Tripurasuramardana.’ The second item was in raag Hamsadhwani with a composition of Aman Ali Khan - Tera bana mun laga hariki sharaname’ with a brief delineation. The following first and last lines of Dikshitar’s ‘Vatapi Ganapatim’ was followed by a Hindi song composed by Aman Ali Khan, ‘Lagi Lagana Pati Sako Sangh.’ The recital concluded with ‘Hari Om tatsat,’ a bhajan in Mishradhun.

The Isha fest culminated with the night-long celebration of Maha sivaratri at the Isha Foundation Centre, Velliangiri foothills, Coimbatore. The line-up included live performances by Sufi singer Mukhtiyar Ali and the Carnatic fusion music band and Isha’s own Sounds of Isha. At the stroke of 12 the concourse of devotees were initiated into the chanting of ‘Om Namasivaya.’

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