Banaras witnessed its annual six-night musical extravaganza from April 26th to May1st. With 44 concerts, it was impossible to savour each one, but the highlight of the 1st day was undoubtedly Pakistan’s Ustad Ghulam Ali Khan, who against all odds, sang for the second time in this temple festival. Sadly today he is a shadow of his former self, but it didn’t seem to matter; the crowds had swelled impossibly high.
The new face of the festival was S. Aakash from Bangalore; definitely a flautist to look out for. He mentioned he does not play in the Carnatic style as his elder cousin Shashank Subramanium holds sway, so is learning in the North Indian idiom from Jayteerth Mevundi.
Kaushiki Chakravorty made her debut at the festival with a polished Jog which was a trifle puzzling as it was only 11 p.m. when she started. Her subsequent thumris were soulful and much appreciated by the Banaras crowd who are seasoned thumri listeners.
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‘Taal Yogi’ Pandit Suresh Talwalkar and his percussion ensemble introduced a new bass instrument called cajun which picked up the tabla bols at the end of each piece resulting in a magnificent booming finale. The accompaniment was vocal which appealed.
Pandit Ajay Pohankar opened his recital with Darbari. He kept the presentation compact and did not indulge in vocal histrionics. Purbayan Chatterji dazzled the audience with Jogiya Kalingra, a small raga he effortlessly played a full one hour without being repetitive. His aalap was short, yet effective, ending in an eight bol jhala with a pause. It reminded one of Pandit Nikhil Bannerji. The three gats, starting with a masitkhani and embellished with dazzling taans, and subtle laykari, concluded with a jhala which was interspersed with short sapaat tans which were most enjoyable. Purbayan ended with a Kirwani dhun.
A sublime Lalit and then intricate Bhairav Bhatiyar, a new jor raga created by Gunidas was sung by Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar; on request he ended with a Bhairavi bandish thumri.
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The main draw of the 3rd day was Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, who was not in as great form as he usually is. A maestro like him can of course never fail to impress, and his Bihag was lilting, but the Durga, and thumris which followed were perhaps not as soulful as one expects from the master. Performing in the open 35 degrees Celsius temperature inevitably takes its toll.
Shoma Ghosh sang uplifting bhajans dedicated to Lord Shiva and Hanumanji. Her Hansadhwani was particularly moving.
Pandit Kumar Bose in his tabla jugalbandi with his nephew Rohan impressed as always. Pandit Samaresh Chaudhary’s Todi was interesting to hear as he is rarely heard on the concert circuit. His Patiala gharana gayaki was impeccable.
The 4th day undoubtedly belonged to the Carnatic stream, with the most captivating performances being from the South. It started with percussionist Sivamani; “Mandolin” U Rajesh and Pandit Ronu Mazumdar on the flute were the other parts of the act. The trio played several pieces, in the Carnatic and the Hindustani idioms. The crowd frenzy was unprecedented.
P.T. Narendran, the Bharatanatyam dancer from Chennai was superb with his elegant grace; one wished that for a primarily Hindi speaking audience the explanatory commentary of the pieces were in Hindi. Pandit Kadri Gopalnath on the saxophone showed dexterity on his instrument, making it hard to believe it was not an instrument of Indian origin.
Pandit Biswajeet Roy Chaudhary sensibly went straight to a madhyalaya gat in his opening Shahana; eschewing a prolonged aalap; he ended with Nayaki Kanhra. His playing is within a framework of the Senia sarod baaj, with upaj inspired by his vocal Guru Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur.
The most noteworthy concerts of the 5th day were the dance and sarod. Odissi doyen Sonal Mansingh, who as she put it, has assumed the role of a Kathakaar in her presentations, was excellent. Her extempore quotations from the Ramayana were impressive and she was able to create a picture of a mythical time with ease with a combination of discourse nritya and abhinaya.
Sarod doyen Ustad Ashish Khan, Shiraz Ali and Atish Mukhopadhyay created a tremendous musical ambience – the Bageshwari aalap was not able to fully portray the majestic structure the Ustad attempted as the sound system gave way. The pakhawaj style tabla accompaniment during the jor reminded one of a bygone era of playing. The second raga was Kaunsi Kanhra, in which they played a vilambit gat composition of Guruma Annapurnaji. The third piece – not folk, not classical as the Ustad put it – was composed specially for the occasion as a tribute to Hanumanji.
Pandit Nagaraj Havaldar and his family sang an imposing Abhogi, a Kirana gharana favourite. The concluding tarana was especially effective, with fast-paced taans.
As a music enthusiast from Bikaner put it, he travels to Banaras every year because the music here is played in the spirit of an offering, and the listeners take it as “prasad”.