The annual Parampara Festival of Music and Dance organised by Natya Tarangini, the Kuchipudi dance institute of Raja-Radha Reddy and Kaushalya, was held at Kamani auditorium recently. The three day festival titled Aaradhanam focused this year on the guru-shishya parampara which is the essence of India’s classical music and dance tradition. Based on the genuineness of the guru (the teacher) and the respect, commitment devotion and obedience of the shishya (disciple), this is a kind of spiritual relationship that transmits not only the knowledge but also the cultural ethos of these traditional art forms.
The festival took a flying start with a fascinating Kuchipudi recital by Gurus Raja-Radha Reddy and their outstanding shishya (disciple) Shallu Jindal. It concluded with a mesmerising flute recital by Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia and his disciple Rakesh Chaurasia. It was amazing to see how not only the technique but the spiritual essence of the raga is imbibed by the disciple from the guru. The very first blowing from mandra Pancham to Shadja in raga Jog, their opening raga, proved it. The detailed alap elaborated the raga through note by note delineation, Rakesh complementing his guru’s movements in the corresponding register.
A four beat-rhythm in medium pace was established during the jod sequence, where they took turns to adorn the theme with flourishes of eight count swaras. The jhala followed the jod before they started the composition set to Matta tala of nine beats.
Vijay Ghate, a brilliant disciple of Pandit Suresh Talwalkar, accompanied them on the tabla. It was heartening to see this young percussionist never tried to show off his technical virtuosity which could disturb the emotional ambience of the raga. He never even bothered to impress by the conventional opening uthaan, which is normally a must for tabla players after waiting patiently during the hour long alap-jod-jhala. Vijay seems to be a musician at heart, enjoying the musicality of the concert instead of damaging it with prosaic percussion prowess. Desh was the most appropriate choice for the next raga. They played two lively compositions in medium and fast tempo Teen tala, before concluding their captivating concert with a Pahadi dhun. The musical accompaniment with the Mohiniattam by Neena Prasad is also worth mentioning. A distinguished disciple of Kalamandalam Sugandhi, Neena’s abhinaya on Jayadeva’s ashtapadi “Dheer sameere” was able to melt hearts also because of the soulful singing by Chandan Srimadhavan and the melodious veena by Shyamala Bhaskar.
Teamed to perfection
Guru Karaikudi R. Mani and R. Ramesh
Guru Durga Charan Ranbir and Rahul Acharya
Guru Nedunuri and Malladi Brothers
Gurus Raja-Radha Reddy and Shallu Jindal
Guru Hari Prasad Chaurasia and Rakesh Chaurasia
