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66th Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav: Weaving a musical string of magic and harmony
Continuing with the series of spectacular performances, music lovers of Pune were in for a treat with the sounds of North and Punjabi music by Ragi Balwant Singh Namdhari who performed at the afternoon session on the third day of the 66th Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav.
Continuing with the series of spectacular performances, music lovers of Pune were in for a treat with the sounds of North and Punjabi music by Ragi Balwant Singh Namdhari who performed at the afternoon session on the third day of the 66th Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav. The opening session of the day saw vocalist Aparna Panshikar, who is a young vocalist of Gwalior-Jaipur Gharana and disciple of Bhaskarbuva Joshi and her mother Meera Panshikar. Aparna Panshikar presented Raag Lajwanti. She also performed a Meera Bhajan ‘Chod Mat Jaiyo Re’ which was sung by her mother and Guru Meera Panashikar
Ragi Balwant Singh Namdhari who represents the classical vocal tradition of Punjab performed Punjabi compositions using instruments like Ishraj and Pakhwaj Jodi and introducing different sounds to the young generation that gathered in large numbers at the Maharashtriya grounds, Mukund Nagar. Namdhari performed some Bandish compositions of Jaipur and Talwandi Gharana, where he presented the compositions ‘Chiranjivi Raho Dono’, ‘Jagat Janani Jagadambe Bhawani’, ‘Baras Rahi Kari Kari Badariya’ and also some Punjabi Shabad Kirtan compositions. The Punjabi music had the audience in trance.
Acknowledging the audience’s excitement, father and son duo Milind Raikar and Yadnesh Raikar mesmerised the audience with their violin tunes.
The day concluded with a magical performance by Hindustani classical vocalist, Pandit Ulhas Kashlkar a representative of all the three gharanas of Gwalior, Jaipur and Agra where he received his training. Before taking to the stage and enthralling the audience with his fine performance, Pandit Ulhas Kashlkar was awarded the Vatsala Joshi Puruskar by Shrinivas Joshi, which consisted of ₹51000 and memento.
Food and classical music blend together here
On the third day, the crowd seemed to have settled into a routine at the new venue of the 66th Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav.
By the time the second performer came onto the stage, people started making a beeline at the food stalls which have always been the biggest draw during Sawai.
Regulars like Yashoda Wakankar who has been coming to the Sawai for the past 30 years recalls the earlier stalls would be of idli, dosa and the ubiquitous crowd favourite Wada Pav. “With Sawai growing older, the venue has also started adding food stalls thus taking care of the audience who don’t have to leave the grounds for food. These five days, no one really thinks of their diet and enjoys amazing food that is on sale at the various stalls.”
Priya Phadke has been coming to Sawai for the past 4 years and she can’t get enough of the wafting aroma of grounded coffee seeds at the Kumardhara coffee stall, where over the years, they have created a special Sawai blend of coffee which is an instant hit as a perfect accompanying hot beverage in the open grounds.
There are multitude of choices for audience to enjoy right from authentic Maharasthrian cuisine to Indian chinese and even peanuts in spicy masala as a snack. Most of these stalls are exclusively set up only during Sawai like this year Ruchirangam, Food Katta, Swad Sangeet are new entrants while stall like Puranna enthrall audiences with their tantalising dishes for over 12 years. “We begin the set up at 9 am and we serve food as ordered thus it is always hot,” said Maithili Kolhatkar Kelkar, who used to accompany her mother Pranita and her friend Medha Athavale, both homemakers when they set up this stall.
Music lover Harshal Deshpande and his friend Rahul Gogate enjoyed sampling modak at the stall. “Besides the music, the other attraction is truly amazing Maharastrian home cooked delicacies which we don’t often get outside in a hotel,” said Gogate.
