The digital version of Sankat Mochan Sangeet Samaroh 2020 concludes

 

Binay Singh

Varanasi: The 97^th edition of Sankat Mochan Sangeet Samaroh 2020, one of the most popular music fests of the country organized annually at Sankat Mochan Temple, was unique in itself. No audience, no musician was there, but it was viewed scores of people across the globe from April 12 to 18.

As the national lockdown is in place in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, the fest was organized on digital platforms this year as an experimental basis to maintain the tradition. It was the tremendous response from the musicians as well as audience that made the organisers to extend the six-day fest for one more day. “In view of the huge response of people, we are thinking to continue the digital version parallel to the main event at the temple,” said the Mahanth Prof. Vishwambhar Nath Mishra.

In normal days this overnight music festival draws a huge gathering of music lovers at the temple to see the musicians performing on an open stage. Every musician has a dream to perform at the feet of Lord Hanuman in this fest.

“Owing to the lockdown we had no other option but to go digital this time,” said the mahanth adding this innovative idea was well received by both musicians and audience. While the musicians performed at their respective places, the audience viewed the concert live staying indoors through digital platforms.

The fest commenced on April 12 with the Kathak recital by Pt. Ram Mohan and Pt. Kirshna Mohan from Delhi. He was followed by Pt. Ronu Majumdar from Mumbai who played flute presenting Meera Bai’s famous bhajan –“Payo ji maine Ramratan dhan payo..’ Pt. Samar Saha from Kolkata performed on tabla, while Anant R Krishnan from Chennai showed his musical skill on mridangam. Emerging sitar player Shakir Khan from Pune performed for the first time in this music fest. He was followed by a vocalist of Banaras gharana Pt. Devashish Dey. The first day’s programme concluded with the vocal recital by Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar from Pune.

The second day show began with the recital of Kathak by promising dancers of Banaras Gharana Saurabh Mishra and Gaurav Mishra. Another musician of Banaras Gharana Pt. Devbrat Mishra played on Sitar from his residence. He was followed by the season vocalist Pt. Nagraj Rao Hawaldar from Bengaluru.

Bharat Natyam exponent from Delhi Bhadra Sinha along with Gayatri Sharma presented a composition based on Shakti Tandavam through digital way. Ustad Ashish Khan, Ustad Shahadat Hussain Khan and Shiraj Ali Khan from Kolkata presented tabla recital, while Pt. Jayteerth Mevundi from Dharwar presented vocal recital and bhajan. Pt. Vishwajeet Roy Chaudhury from New Delhi presented Sarod performance. The programme concluded with the solo tabla recital by Pt. Kumar Bose from Kolkata.

Prominent vocalist Pt. Jasraj, who had been attending and performing at the open stage of Sankat Mochan Sangeet Samaroh for years, this time performed remotely from New Jersey (USA) online on the third night of the music fest. The tabla recital by Ustad Akram Khan from Delhi was followed by local musician Pt. Ravindra Narayan Goswami, who played on sitar presenting a composition in raga maalkaus.

Pt. Suresh Talwarkar from Pune along with his daughter Sawani Talwarkar presented a tabla recital, while Pt. Tejendra Narayan Majumdar from Kolkata enthralled the online audience with his composition in raaga bihag on sarod. He was followed by the noted vocalist Pt. Vijay Ranga Rao from Bengaluru. The third day programme concluded with the performance of promising sarod player Abhishek Lahiri from Kolkata.

The fourth day of the festival witnessed the performances of Pt. Ravishankar Mishra (kathak), celebrated vocalist of Carnatic music Deepika Varadrajan from Chennai, sitar recital by the music exponents from Delhi representing three generations -Pt. Debu Chowdhary, his son Pt Prateek Chowdhary and grandson Adhiraj Chowdhary, tabla player Pt. Anindo Chatterjee from Kolkata, vocalist Ustad Rashid Khan and his son Arman Khan from Kolkata, local artist Dr. Atul Shankar (flute), and sitar recital by Neeraj Amarnath Mishra.

On the fifth day the concert began with the Kathak performance by Anuradha Singh from Bhopal followed by by the tabla recital by Anuradha Pal from Mumbai and vocal recital by Bobay Jayshri Ramnath from Chennai. Two artists from Bengaluru -Jayanti Kumresh and Shrividya Angara Sinha presented Saraswati Veena recital and Kuchipudi dance respectively. The other musicians of the day were celebrated vocalist Pt. Ajay Pohankar from Mumbai, sitar player Mehtab Ali Niyazi from Delhi, Prachi Shah Pandya (Kathak) from Mumbai, Abhay Sopori (santoor) from Delhi. Besides, Pt. Narendra Mishra of Banaras gharan, with his son Pt. Amrendra Mishra presented sitar recital followed by Dr. Yella Venkateshwar Rao, who presented Mridangam recital from Hyderabad. Noted vocalist Kankana Banerjee, who has been associated with this fest for four decades, presented her performance from Mumbai. The next programme was the Sarod recital by Pt. Vikas Maharaj of Varanasi. He was followed by a local violin player Sukhdev Mishra. The fifth day’s concert concluded with the vocal recital by Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty from Kolkata.

With the composition in raga bihangada in praise of Lord Hanuman by noted vocalist Malini Awasthi, the fest began on the sixth day. The vocal recital was followed by odisi performance by Pt. Ratikant Mohapatra from Bhubaneshwar, while a promising artist S Akash played on flute from Mumbai. Noted vocalist of Kirana gharana Vijay Kumar Patil from Dharwar presented vocal recital, and famous sitar player Pt. Niladri Kumar joined the concert from Mumbai. Noted vocalists Pt. Rajan -Sajan Mishra along with Ritesh Mishra, Rajneesh Mishra and Swaransh Mishra presented a composition in raga malkauns from New Delhi. The next vocal recital was presented by Chandana Bala Kalyan from Mumbai. The other prominent musicians including santoor player Pt. Bhajan Sopori from New Delhi, violinist Pt. L Subramaniyam from Bengaluru and sitar player Anupama Bhagawat from Bengaluru also presented their performances digitally.

The concluding day of the fest witnessed the performance of many eminent musicians. The programme began with the flute recital by Pt. Shashank Subramanyam from Chennai followed by noted tabla player Pt. Prodyut Mukherjee from Kolkata and Kathak exponent Manali Deo from Mumbai. Pt. Sathish Vyas from Mumbai presented a composition on santoor in raga charukeshi. He was followed by drumming sensation Sivamani from Chennai and vocalist Pt. Suman Ghosh from Huston. Bhajan singer Anup Jalota from Mumbai and mridangam player Pt. P Satish from Chennai also joined the digital concert.

While famous sarangi player Ustad Moiuddin Khan and his son Momin Khan performed from Jaipur, vocalist Shaunak Abhisheki presented a composition from Pune. Flute maestro Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasiya also joined the concert from Mumbai and expressed his best wishes. His disciple Vivek Sonar presented a composition in raga Chandrakauns. Singer Mohammad Aman and his tabla player brother Zafar Rehman joined the concert from Jaipur, while tabla maestro Ananda Gopal Bandopadhyaya and his son Pran Gopal Bandopadhyaya presented tabla recital from Kolkata. Lokesh Anand from Delhi played on shehnai, and Pt. Devashish Bhattacharya from Kolkata presented sarod recital.