Soothing sounds of sitar

The glittering event was held to raise funds for the Ustad Balekhan Trust and was graced by many renowned artistes.

The concert began with a Hindustani vocal recital by Purnima Bhatt Kulkarni, a disciple of Basavraj Rajguru who was accompanied by Guru Murthy Vaidya on tabla and Ashwin Walawalkar on harmonium.

She started off with the melodious Raag Madhuvanti with the composition More Mann Ba and culminated her soulful rendition with Raag Nand.

After this, the seven members of Ustad Bale Khan lineage came together setting the stage ready for a memorable Sapta Sitar Ensemble which was conceptualised by Ustad Bale Khan himself.

“Ten years ago, my father along with six other family members presented a Sapta Sitar concert in the City at Kalakshiti. It was a great experience for us. Today we are presenting it again but in the absence of my father. But we always cherish his fond memories with great respect and promise to take his legacy forward,” said his son Hafiz Khan, the founder of the trust, before the concert.

Sapta Sitar is a concept where seven artistes play seven sitars and each player plays a different raga.

On the seven sitars, the audience got to see Hameed Khan, Chote Rehemat Khan, Rafique Khan, Shafique Khan, Rais Khan, Hafiz Khan and Mohsin Khan.

These artistes represent the sixth and seventh generation of the renowned family of Sitar Ratna Rahimat Khan.

The concert was planned in a traditional dhrupad style and the seven ragas played were Yaman Kalyan, Desh, Tilak Kamod, Kedar, Maru Behag, Durga and Shankara.

They began with Raag Bhupali and as their fingers raced along the length of the sitar, the auditorium reverberated with melodious strains.

All the seven players were perfectly in sync and received an able tabla accompaniment from Kolkata-based tabla player Abhijit Banerjee.

“I have never been to an Indian classical concert. By attending this recital, I definitely had a good start. I didn’t think that the sounds of the sitar would be this amazing. They filled my heart with unbound energy. Hafiz Khan and his companions were really great. Though I don’t understand the nuances of classical music, I enjoyed their performance
a lot. Their music has a mesmerising quality,” said Nandan Mahantesh, a research student.