9th edition of Thumri festival concludes with magical renditions

Marked with scores of captivating and enchanting performances, the 9th edition of Thumri Festival came to an end on Wednesday here.

Organised by Sahitya Kala Parishad, Department of Art, Culture and Languages, Delhi Government the festival promotes genres of music which today are fading due to the advent of fusion/western/pop music.

For the past many years, Thumri Festival has been organised on such a grand scale and has become a signature in Delhi's cultural calendar.

Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, expressed his happiness over the festival and thanked audience by saying, "With every passing year, Thumri Festival is getting bigger with exciting line-up of artists and I am glad that you all have accepted it with open arms. The entire team is grateful to you all for this success."

"I also take this opportunity to thank all the artistes who came forward to promote Thumri on such a large scale," he added.

The festival kicked off on Monday and was marked with some enthralling performances by artists including Devashish Dey, who presented Thumri in Raag Des followed by a Banarasi Kajri, a rainy seasonal song. Dey even performed Jhoola, a song on swings.

Followed by his rendition, Debapriya Adhikary and Samanwaya presented their act. The two make a duo of an 'A' grade artist and Sitarist respectively, of All India Radio and Doordarshan.

They performed Tappa, Khayal featuring the elements of Thumri in it. Besides, they also performed Bandishi Thumri, Dadra, Jhula to name a few.

The evening concluding performance was by Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar, whose music echoes a pleasant blend of Agra Gwalior gharana and Jaipur Atrauli gharana.

Starting with Kamaj Thumri, Arati sang a Jhula followed by Krishna Birha composed by Late Girija Devi. She wrapped her recital with Bahadur Shah Zafar's composition 'Babul mora naiharchooto hi jaaye' set to Hindustani Raga Bhairavi.

The successful musical trail of the first day continued to the second which witnessed an exciting artist line-up commencing with Pandit Sarathi Chatterjee. His music is an amalgamation of Benares and Kirana Gharana.

He started with 'Baiyyan packad lini Shyam, kaise jau main apne dhaam' in Raag Misra Pilu, which tells playful interaction between Radha and Krishna, and how Radha is worried whether she will reach home on time.

His second piece - 'Baalam nahi aye more paas' in Raag Misra Charu keshi was a melancholic description of a lover who is lost in deep thought, waiting for her lover to return. While 'Paiyyan laagu kar jori shyam, mosee khelna hori' in raag Maaj Khamaj was his ending act.

The audience was then enchanted by Pandit Ganesh Prasad Mishra's performance who began with 'Hatojao re na bolo kanha' Bandish ki thumri, composed by his father Pandit Mahadev Prasad Mishra.

The second evening closed with a performance by Ashiwini Bhide-Deshpande.

The music fest's last day set off with a soulful presentation Thumri in Khamaj - 'Mad se bhare tore nain', by Pt. Rajendra Sijuarwho who represents the 'Gaya Gharana'.

Dhanashree Pandit Rai took the stage next and sang "Bairan Ho gayi Raina" a vilambitthumri in taaldeepchandi, raga mishrashivranjin is followed by Dadra in raga mishrashivranjini - "Morbalamwanahiaaye".

The very well renowned Pandit Channulal Mishra from Banaras cast a magical spell on the audience as he concluded the three day long festival.