Bengaluru Ganesha Ustava

Music and dance reviews

Bengaluru Ganesha Ustava

Ganesha pandals have come up all over the city and mandalies are vying with each other to celebrate Ganesha Utsava, as grand as possible. 

Apart from religious rituals, cultural programmes are also being held all over. Though music concerts are the main cultural attraction, orchestras, dance, gamakas and dramas are also conducted by many organisations. One such organisation, Bengaluru Ganeshotsava in its 54th year, is conducting Ganesha celebrations on a grand scale at the National High School Grounds in Basavanagudi.Pandit Venkatesh Kumar, a senior and reputed vocalist, is a recipient of Sangeeth Natak Akademi award, Padmashree and Honorary Doctorate from the University. 

Rag Puriya Kalyan, in both vilambith and druth, was marked for its beautiful phrases; travelling in all the three octaves, had their desired aesthetic impact. It was followed by a number of Kannada Devaranamas, and was well responded by the audience. 

Kaliyugadolu Harinamava (Purandara Dasa), Ole Hatthi Uridare (Basavanna), Toredu Jeevisabahude (Kanaka Dasa) and in slightly ‘Drutha kaala’ Mantralaya Vaasa (Vijaya Vittala) - were quiet impressive. The devotional “Matha Bhavani” was embellished with pleasing tharana. The resonance in his voice enlivened Kannada devotionals revealing the depth of his creativity and experience. He was well supported by Jagadeesh Kurthkoti on tabala and Dr Ravindra Katoti on harmonium.
BVS Sangha

B V S Sangha, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary, is another organisation, which celebrates Vidya Ganapathi Mahotsava every year. 

The Sangha had invited young and upcoming artistes on all the three days to perform and exhibit their talent.

A 15-year-old artiste, Aditi B Prahlad and a disciple of Vinay Sharva, has already won several prizes and awards, including Kalashree (Kannada and Culture department), Kempegowda Prashasthi (BBMP), child prodigy award (Government of Karnataka). To crown it all, she also received from the Rashtrapathi, the National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement in the field of Carnatic classical vocal, recently.

In the current concert at the BVS Sangha, Aditi Prahlad was supported by three seasoned instrumentalists - J K Sridhar on violin, B K Chandramouli on mridanga and Narayana Murthy on ghata. 

Adithi Prahlad’s vocal recital gave a good account of her steady progress. The Kaanada varna gave her a fine start and she added a brief raga and swara for “Siddi Vinayakam.” Both ‘Sri Saraswathi’ and “Nada Thanumanisham” - are familiar compositions to music lovers. 

Among the Panchabhutalingam (five elements) “Arunachalanatham” (Jyoti or fire) is in the pleasing raga Saranga. Dikshitar says and prays that he always contemplates upon Lord Arunachalanatha, who is in the company of Apitakucamba. “Shiva Shiva Enarada” is another well-known composition in the raga Pantuvarali. “Marugelara” was rendered with a vintage flavour. “Sarojadalanethri” had a detailed airing, with ‘nerval.’ In the post ‘thani’ she also sang a devaranama (Aadidane Hari), thillana in Farz and Mangala (Ramachandraya).

Adithi has a good voice and is learning music with all sincerity. With some more higher training, she will be able to improve her alapana, swara and nerval, to reach great heights.
A promising violinist

A noteworthy feature in the new crop of artistes in this part is the emergence of many talented violinists. 

The latest addition to this list is Vaibhav Ramani, a disciple of Kumaresh Rajagopalan. He is performing both as a soloist and accompanist, in and outside the state and has been honoured with prizes from the Bangalore Gayana Samaja, Narada Gana Sabha and a few other Sabhas.

Vaibhav Ramani’s violin recital (Indian Institute of World Culture) took off on a vibrant note with the varna, in the raga Thodi. 

He was his sure self as he intonated Naata for the invocatory piece. The popular kruthi “Nagumomu” deftly supplemented with a neat alapana and swara. 

With continued training and some more experience, Vaibhav Ramani wiill be able to bring more depth to his music - especially to his raga, and nerval. 

But it was a pleasant recital, in total, and Vaibhav Ramani showed great promise. Anoor Vinod Shyam and Anoor Sunaad accompanied on mridanga and khanjari, with good understanding.