E-Paper
Jail birds to sing spiritual tracks at state-level contest
PUNE A state-level competition has been organised by a private organisation along with the state prison department wherein inmates serving sentences for various offences in jails across Maharashtra will sing abhangs (devotional poems) and bhajans (devotional songs) and the best performance/s will be awarded
PUNE A state-level competition has been organised by a private organisation along with the state prison department wherein inmates serving sentences for various offences in jails across Maharashtra will sing abhangs (devotional poems) and bhajans (devotional songs) and the best performance/s will be awarded. Titled ‘Jagadguru Shri Sant Tukaram Maharaj State-level Abhang-Bhajan Competition’, it will be jointly organised by the state home department along with the Sharad Krida and Sanskritik Pratishthan in jails across the state from May 20 to June 30 this year.
“I have seen a major change in the behaviour of prisoners since the time abhang practice has begun,” said Pandit Raghunath Khandalkar, a well-known abhang singer who has been training the inmates since the past week for the state-level abhang-bhajan competition. “I teach around 20 inmates for two hours every day. Some of them are already talented musicians. We have shortlisted some abhangs,” said Pandit Khandalkar. The aim is to bring a change in the prisoners’ lives, enlighten them, and inspire them to become better versions of themselves. “A sense of self-realisation can be seen among the inmates. They are trying to be happy,” said Khandalkar.
Abhangs are Marathi cultural-devotional poems sung in praise of Lord Vitthal and his teachings. The warkaris, a religious community established during the Bhakti movement, started the abhang tradition to make these teachings accessible to commoners. The Bhakti movement was led by saints such as Tukaram, Dnyaneshwar, Namdev and others.
When contacted, inspector general of prisons Atul Chandra Kulkarni refused to share more details, although Laxmikant Khabiya, president of the foundation organising the competition said, “We have been planning to conduct the event since the last two years. The application was filed before the first wave of Covid-19. The proposal was accepted in 2020.”
“Under the jail mandate, there is a provision for the arrangement of cultural events for inmates. The cultural committee of prisons will organise the competition on a smaller scale first and then the final competition will be held on a mega scale,” said Khabiya.
There are around 65 jails in Maharashtra including nine central jails. The event will be attended by 27 teams from different prisons across Maharashtra. These district jails include Yerawada, Kolhapur, Satara, Ahmednagar, Dhule, Nagpur, Amravati, Akola, Bhandara, Nashik, Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan, etc.
“We will reveal the details of the event to the media in a few days. At present, it is too soon,” said Pradeep Jagtap, deputy superintendent of police.
A group of eight people from the organisation will visit each of the 27 jails to judge and select the best. The state prisons are divided into four divisions based on their geographical locations. “We plan to organise the final in some big auditorium in Pune or during the cultural night of the winter session in Nagpur. However, the proposal has not been accepted yet,” added Khabiya.
The theme includes social issues, regret, sacrifice, family, etc. The organisation also plans to donate the musical instruments needed for the performance, a big frame of abhangs, and a set of 100 books to the prisons participating in the competition in the memory of late Kamlabai Rasiklal Dhariwal.
