The Jhulanjatra Music Festival 2022, celebrating Jhulan Utsav, was organised as per tradition at Ramkanai Adhikari’s house in Bowbazar. The five-day festival commenced with a dhrupad by Sudip and Siddhartha Pal in Jaijaiwanti and Gaud Malhar with Swarup Ghosal on the pakhawaj. The artists concluded with a Shivastuti. The vocalist, Supriyo Dutta, enchanted listeners with his smooth rendition in Behag in both vilambit ektaal and drut teentaal kheyals, followed by a dadra in Mishra Kirwani and a bhajan. He was supported by Biplab Bhattacharya on the tabla and Pradip Palit on the harmonium.
Rupasree Bhattacharya’s harmonium recital was a soulful experience. Her spontaneous improvisations in Raga Hameer, set to jhamptaal, were fulfilling. Her expertise was evident in Raga Sohini and Raga Bhairavi as well. Ashoke Mukherjee accompanied her on the tabla. Dwiptanil Bhattacharya’s sarod recital set the mood for the monsoons as he played an alaap, jor and jhala in Miyan ki Malhar and a gat in Desh. The young artist’s performance was given depth by Sujit Saha’s skills on the tabla. He concluded with Raga Shivranjani.
Tejaswini D. Vernekar stood out for the clarity and depth of her voice. She enthralled the audience by beginning with Raga Nand and added freshness with compositions in Raga Sohini. The Varanasi-based artist was excellent in her rendition in Kamod and the jhula that she concluded with. The sitarist, Kalyanjit Das, also enhanced the monsoonal melody with his arresting performance in Raga Megh. His recital flourished with support from the talented Archik Banerjee on the tabla. Das ended with a beautiful Tilak Kamod and Mishra Shivranjani. Sandip Bhattacharya, the vocalist at the finale, began with Raga Megh — the generosity of his voice and his style touched a chord with listeners. He continued with a kheyal and a tarana in Jaijaiwanti, followed by interesting compositions in Gaud Malhar and Desh. He ended his performance with popular bhajans. Jyoti Goho assisted him beautifully on the harmonium.
The vocal recital by Nagarajrao Havaldar
Sunaada, a Bangalore-based cultural organisation, put together a programme in collaboration with the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Golpark, to commemorate the centenary of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi at Vivekananda Hall. The curtain raiser was a video of excerpts from a well-known documentary on the maestro and some audio clips from his early LPs. There were also live performances, featuring a sitar recital by Partha Bose. He began with an alaap in Raga Durga, followed by a gat in jhamptaal. His presentation was a perfect blend of melody and rhythm, with skilled movement along the key notes and improvisations. He ended with a Khamaj, offering a gatmala consisting of three compositions. The artist was accompanied by Indranil Mallick on the tabla.
The vocal recital by Nagarajrao Havaldar (picture, top) — a sincere follower of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi — along with his son, Omkaranath Havaldar, created a joyous atmosphere with a Yaman composition. Both artists took the adequate amount of time to embellish this raga with intricate vistaars and taans. The well-coordinated performance captured the true spirit of the raga. Kamalaksha Mukherjee and Kedarnath Havaldar accompanied the vocalists on the harmonium and the tabla, respectively. They brought the show to a close with bhajans and abhangs popularised by Pandit Bhimsen Joshi.
