Dehradun- 22 October 2022- The 14th day of Virasat Art and Heritage Festival 2022 started with lamp lighting and various types of performances in the cultural evening program. In which the first performance was given by the artist Prem Haryana, who came from Haryana, he presented the classical dance of Haryana which was in praise of Bhole Baba and its lyrics were “Tu Raja Ki Rajdulari”,
after that he presented 2 ragani in which he presented “Girl Murder”. and “How a soldier’s wife stays away from her husband” brought tears to the eyes of all the audience present.
He then concluded his performance with the classical dance form of Haryana, Khodiya. In his accompaniment on Dholak (Govinda), Harmonium (Himanshu) Nagada (Surendra) Sangeet (Ankit, Himanshu, Manisha, Logic) accompanies and made the presentation more spectacular. The next performance in the cultural evening program was by Sujit Kumar Ojha in which he presented the folk music of Bihar. His performance of devotional music mesmerized the people of Virasat. He started his performance from Sagun Bhakti to Nigun Bhakti, in which the first singing lyrics were “Aaj Gopal Raas”.
After that, performed many devotional songs like “Man Re Kar Le”, “Haman Hai Issi Mastana”, “Ram Ram Setu”. He concluded his performance with “Moko kaha dhoonde ri bande”. Chetan Nigam (Harmonium), Gurbesh (Tabla), Pravesh Jain (End Percussion), Sankalp Tiwari, Daksh Verma (Vocal), Rishabh Joshi, Nitin Verma (Tanpura) gave his accompaniment. We all know that there is soul music in the soil of Bihar and ‘Sujit Kumar Ojha’ is a true example of this. Born in 1977, Sujeeth naturally turned to music at the age of eight. Since then, he has appeared on stage in several productions of folk music. After being initiated into folk music by his first guru and grandfather Shri Bhagwan Ji Ojha.
Later he started learning classical music from Shri Om Prakash Rai, Shri Dharampal. For the last ten years, he is under the tutelage of Padmashree Pandit Madhup Mudgal, the renowned singer and Principal of Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, New Delhi. He is a graduate in Music from Delhi University. He has been featured on DD-1 in the morning and other shows on DD-Bharati, ETV etc. Light and classical music (khayals, bhajans, ghazals etc.) being his specialty, he is prolific in both folk music and bhajans. Apart from being a good lyricist, Sujeeth has also composed music for several films and albums in Hindi, Bhojpuri and Punjabi etc. Sujit Ojha has also received the ‘Arya Ratna’ award in the year 1999.
Baba Alauddin Khan Award in 2003 and Sadhak Samman in ‘Sangeet’ 2011.Also an active member of the famous Gandharva Choir for the last seventeen years. He has performed in many shows like Boston, Houston, Washington, Manchester, London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Dubai, Germany, etc. In the next performance of the cultural evening program, Mohiniyattam dance was presented by Jaya Prabha Menon. In which he started his performance in Nataraja Stuti Abhinayak Darpan “Nritya”, Kamboj Taal. After that he performed “Kundalini Pandava” at Nagattavam where he is invited the Naga king to come and dance to Shiva. After this he performed “Varshaahman” from Mahakavi Kalidas’ Ritusanhar.
It depicts the rejuvenation of nature in the rain, everyone is happy except those who are missing their loved ones. It is composed in the raga Amritvarshini in Aadi Talam. His last performance was “Bandattam” where one as a child play with God and learn how to be happy. Jayaprabha ji was accompanied by Rohini Satish, Aparna Sanjeev, Ramita Rajesh, Punya Nair and Radhika Menon. Jayaprabha Menon, a dancer with exceptional artistry, a versatile choreographer and an affectionate mentor to her disciples, has given a unique dimension to Indian classical dances.
Mohiniyattam literally means dance form of ‘Mohini’, the celestial sorceress of Hindu mythology, is a classical solo dance form of Kerala. With all its graceful waving circular steps, prominent expressions and melodious traditional music, the art of Mohiniyattam did not always enjoy the respect and admiration it now gets. Mohiniyattam dancer and exponent Jayaprabha Menon has been instrumental in giving dance its due. Jayaprabha Menon is one of the most accomplished dancers of the new generation. Her pleasing stage presence and engaging performances have brought a new aesthetic to Mohiniyattam.
Even though she is rooted in tradition, her themes are contemporary and the interpretation is bold and novel. She blends a refreshing originality in her dance with traditional discipline. Currently doing research on regional rhythm patterns of Kerala under the guidance of Padmabhushan Sri Kavalam Narayan Panikkar. The final performance of the cultural evening was given by the group (Talasaptak) of famous tabla player Salim Allahwale. In which he presented tabla playing of Delhi, Banaras, Punjab, Farrukhabad, Ajrala, Lucknow dharana. After that, he merged some Uttarakhand folk music with classical music and gave presentations to the people, due to which the people present in the heritage liked and played applause.
In this wonderful performances, composer Salim Allahwale along with tabla players from Allahwale family Naeem, Moin, Sami, Saulat, Asim Allahwale and Zakir Hussain (sarangi) garnered a lot of praise and applause from the people. His specialty is to match the classical bandish to folk dhun which is 400 years old gharana and composed by his Ustad Daddu Khan ji, Haji Amir Mohad Khan ji, Inam Ali Khan Saheb ji. All the artists have been declared Grade A by Doordarshan and AIR. Salim Allahwale has spread his fame in many popular festivals at the national and international level. The main objective of his performance is to showcase the 500-year-old bandish of the 6 gharanas of India (Delhi, Banaras, Punjab, Farrukhabad, Ajra and Lucknow) and reach them all over the world.
