How the Bhilwara Sur Sangam festival has emerged to be a musical meeting point

Festival to celebrate India’s rich musical legacy

Started in 2012, the Bhilwara Sur Sangam has become a much-awaited festival in New Delhi, as it showcases a wide range of artistes from different genres on one stage. The earlier editions have featured many well-known musicians, especially amazing jugalbandis such as Pt. Anindo Chatterji and Pt. Kumar Bose, Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan and Ustad Rashid Khan, Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty singing with daughter Kaushiki, and Ustad Shujaat Khan on the sitar and Pt. Tejendra Narayan Mazumdar on the sarod. The festival has always been curated in such a way that it draws a huge audience. Also, the format has been changed to feature just one or two concerts each day, making it easy for listeners to enjoy the music.

This year’s edition began with Manas Kumar’s violin recital, which is his maiden performance in Delhi. Hailing from Assam, Manas is a SNA Yuva awardee. Though he does not belong to any musical lineage, his mature approach without any gimmickry makes his concerts enjoyable.

Manas began with raag Puriya Kalyan, in the gayaki tradition, moving straight to the compositions, in vilambit ek taal and then in drut teen taal. His barhat (progression ) was seamless without being repetitive. His ‘riyaaz’ allows him play those fast and flawless taans. Ojas Adhiya on the tabla, perhaps, was unable to stop obtruding with his interjections; ???not letting the mellow mood created by the violinist to continue. Manas next played raag Jog Kauns (7 p.m. was too early for this night raag to be rendered) followed by Nand, before concluding with a delightful raag Pahari.

The festival next featured veteran Hindustani vocalist Ashwini Bhide Deshpande, who commenced her performance with raag Bhupali. The evening was dedicated to her mother Vidushi Manik Bhide, who passed away recently, and Ashwini paid tribute by singing the raag taught to her by her mother. The first composition ‘Pratham sur Sa’ was by Vidushi Kishori Amonkar, her mother’s guru. Swarangi Marathe and Rindana Rahasya provided vocal support. One admires Ashwini for always giving space to her disciples on stage. On the tabla was Vinod Lele and on the harmonium, Vinay Mishra. A joyous mood was created by her rendition of raag Basant. It was set to Dhamar taal, played wonderfully by Vinod Lele. Most tabla artistes from Benaras have a great affinity for this taal. The concluding dadra on Holi was also a delight.

The next evening commenced with Kolkata-based Ustad Waseem Ahmed Khan of the Agra gharana. He began with Jaijaiwanti (usually rendered late evening) on request from the audience. Singing a traditional dhrupad alaap-jor-jhala, Waseem impressed with both his taalim (training) and mijaaz (temperament) .

The Vilambit Ektaal composition ‘Paalana ghar laage’ is a favourite of the Agra gharana. This was followed by ‘Naada akhiyan laage’ in Teen taal. ???The pakhawaj by Vinod Lele on the tabla and Vinay Mishra excelled as always Ending with an old-fashioned simple hori in Pilu that he learnt as a six-year-old from his grandfather Ustad Atta Hussain Khan, then 80 years old, Waseem demonstrated how Indian classical music tradition has been kept alive by the guru-sishya parampara.

The evening concluded with Pt. Budhaditya Mukherji’s sitar performance with Soumen Nandi on the tabla offering unobtrusive accompaniment. It was a pleasure to listen to this somewhat reclusive maestro. He played raag Shuddha Kalyan, with his usual mastery, going straight from an ‘auchaar’ to the Vvilambit Teen taal gat. A seasoned artiste, he played on traditional lines. Next came raags Basant and Bhairavi.