Varanasi: The four-day classical music fest -International Dhrupad Mela began with high note in open at the Tulsi Ghat on the bank of Ganga on Tuesday evening. The night-long event is organized under the auspices of Maharaja Banaras Vidya Mandir Nyas annually. It is the 46th edition of the event.
Dhrupad is the oldest surviving classical style of Hindustani vocal music. It is the original form of Indian classical music and has been retained in its pure form to date by successions of masters. The nature of Dhrupad music is spiritual seeking not to entertain, but to induce feelings of peace and contemplation in the listener.
The programme was inaugurated by the erstwhile king of Banaras Maharaja Anant Narayan Singh, convener Mahanth Prof Vishwambhar Nath Mishra and founder member Padma Shri Prof Rajeshwar Acharya. Before the beginning of spiritual concert, vedic mangalacharan was performed by Pankaj Shukla, Jayshankar Pandey, Hemant Tripathi and Tuntun Shastri under the guidance of Pt Swarnapratap Chaturvedi.
The music fest began with the solo performance of Pakhawaj by Pt Rajkhushi Ram from Lucknow. He was accompanied by Gauri Banerjee on Sarangi. He was followed by Prof Madhu Bhatt Tailang from Jaipur University, who presented a vocal recital. She was accompanied by Ankit Parekh on Pakhawaj and Pt Jamuna Ballabh Gujarati on Harmonium. The first night of the fest also featured Dev Vrat Mishra (Surbahar), Pt Rajkumar Jha (Pakhawaj), Dhani Gundecha (vocal), Pt Ravindra Narayan Goswami (Surbahar), Ashutosh Bhattacharya (vocal), Vishok Sheel (Rudraveena), Arun Bhattacharya (vocal), Chanchal Bhattacharya (Pakhawaj), Nishant Singh (Pakhawaj), Chiyara Barberi (vocal) and Nikshil Ghorpadkar (vocal).
Besides the local music lovers, a number of foreigners also attended the concert and enjoyed the Hindustani classical music. In the beginning, the convener Mahanth Prof Vishwambhar Nath Mishra gave a brief account of Dhrupad Mela’s journey of over four decades at Tulsi Ghat. Prof Rajeshwar Acharya recalled the memory of great patrons Mahant Prof Veer Bhadra Mishra, Prof Lalmani Mishra and Kashi Naresh Dr. Vibhuti Narayan Singh. Maharaja Ananat Narayan Singh expressed his good wishes to the music lovers from different parts of the country and abroad.
